How well would repro Heer/SS/Luftwaffe Uniforms come across in the 3rd Reich?

[goonch7471]

Let's say I put on a reproduction uniform, and travel back in time to the 3rd Reich. Would civilians and military personnel know that something is "off" about the uniform? Or would it blend in with the sea of originals?

[Sejanus]

I suppose it would depend on the quality of the repro uniform & insignia as to whether it would pass muster or not. I do not bother with repro stuff but know some people that do, collectors that also reenact WWII. Some of their repro materials are spot on, indistinguishable from originals (and quite expensive). Collecting WWII German is also a minefield because of all the repro materials churned out over the decades since the war ended that are presented (and accepted sometimes even by experienced collectors) as being originals. Given this, I think it is likely that some repros could even have fooled Germans during the war.

Your question reminds me of the 1944 escape of Allied POWs from Stalag Luft III near what was then Sagan in Silesia, known as The Great Escape. I believe some of the escapees masqueraded in fake Luftwaffe uniforms they had fashioned, in effect their own repros. It has been years since I read Paul Brickhill's book about the escape and I no longer recall if those uniformed escapees were caught because of their repro German uniforms or some other reason like inaccurate/incomplete forged identity papers, etc. In any event, that was a case of repro German uniforms actually being used during WWII.

[Mark in Cleveland, Tn.]

Ehh, some of the Great Escape was nonsense, (movie) as if asny real POWs escpaed ion (fake) TR uniforms, )they would have been busted at first look see and executed out of hand as spies.I really doubt in the real escape any POWs wore faked TR uniformas, maybe a tunic top, stolen from the garrison, andf a helmet, M-43, or other clothing, My thouhgt on the OP and the time thing, you wouild be spotted right away, tortured by the SS or State Polce, then shipped to Malthausen, then executed. as spy. But my op is muted a sI do not care for any reenactment nonsens ein the least

[Sejanus]

Ehh, I guess that Paul Brickhill (a POW in Stalag Luft III) and author of The Great Escape book must have lied about the fake Luft stuff then. And Mark in Cleveland obviously knows better than someone who was there and was a witness. Yup, got it.

[John_F]

A repro officer's uniform would probably attract little or no comment, since officers can and did have their own uniforms tailor-made.

In terms of OR uniforms, uniforms were generally issued depending on what was available in stores - late-war photographs exist of early-war dark tunic collars alongside later light collars within the same unit. Also, quality dropped off considerably in the course of the war as a cost-saving measure, and as better-quality material became difficult to source, so perhaps a high-quality repro OR uniform might stand out as anachronistic in e.g. 1945.