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Field Grey Uniforms of the German Army on Ottoman Fronts in the First World War
While some German officers and NCOs serving in Ottoman units wore
Ottoman Uniforms
and the Asienkorps wore Khaki
Tropical Uniforms for a period, the majority of German army personnel
serving in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War wore
standard field grey German army uniforms as worn in Europe. These were
sometimes issued (or privately tailored in the case of many officers and
senior NCOs) in lightweight versions for hot climates but did not differ
in cut or appearance from the standard uniforms worn on
European fronts during the First World War. Most varieties of German
army field grey uniforms have been seen in period photographs taken in the
Ottoman Empire including the 1910 Infantry/Artillery Waffenrock, the
Modified 1910 Waffenrock with plain cuffs, the 1915 Bluse, the Officers
1903 Litewka, the Officers and Other Ranks 1915 greatcoats and
occasionally 1910 Cavalry Tunics such as the Ulanka and Attila were worn
by Pilots in Palestine.
The subject of Imperial German field grey
uniforms is huge and has been covered very well in many publications such
as "The German Army 1914-18" by DSV Fosten, RJ Marrion and G Embleton (published by Osprey).
A more complete list of useful books on the subject is given on the
Book Reviews Page.
Headdress worn by these troops was usually the peakless (or peaked for
officers and
senior NCOs) field cap. It was made in field grey with hatband and
piping in arm of service colours, with a small imperial cockade above a
small state cockade (see Cockades
Details Page). Pickelhaubes and steel helmets were very rarely worn.
Sometimes combinations of German and
Ottoman Uniforms were worn together and
period photographs showing groups of German officers together often show some
wearing German and others wearing Ottoman uniforms. Similarly some
photographs show combinations of field grey and
Khaki Tropical Uniforms
worn together.
The Illustrations
Figure 1 is based on a photograph of a
German Artilleryman of the Asienkorps taken in Palestine in 1918. Although the
Asienkorps were issued a khaki khaki tropical
uniform, they also brought their field grey uniforms with them for wear during
cold weather. Due to the khaki uniform's similarity to enemy
uniforms and other impracticalities in wear and issue, during 1918 it was
largely replaced by standard European issue field grey for all ranks.
This artilleryman is dressed the same as he would have been on the Western
Front in 1918. He wears a peakless other ranks field cap with a field grey band worn over the
coloured hatband so as to be
less conspicuous. His wears a standard German 1915 tunic with the shoulder straps
removed, again to be less obvious to snipers but also so as not to give away
unit information in the event of capture. He wears standard slate grey
trousers (possibly with red piping) and field grey puttees with black ankle boots.
His
equipment is a blackened leather belt with a painted grey army belt buckle (although
these were originally issued with state emblems on them, most
were issued in standard Prussian design by this late stage in the war
irrespective of the unit's state origin). He is armed with a Mauser
M98 Karbine.
Figure 2 is based on a photograph of a
German Artillery Officer of the Asienkorps taken in Palestine in about 1917.
This officer is again wearing the same uniform as he would have worn on the
Western front.
He wears an officer's peaked field cap in field grey
with hatband in arm-of-service colours (in this case black edged with red for
the artillery) and an imperial (black/white/red) cockade above a state cockade
(in this case black/white/black for Prussia). He wears an officer's field grey
double-breasted 1915 "Kleiner Rock" Litewka tunic (again with collar patches and piping in
arm-of-service colours) and an Iron Cross second class in his second buttonhole.
Officers uniforms often being privately tailored varied in shade, many being
paler and less green than standard issue field grey. Rank is displayed on the braided shoulder straps. He wears field grey riding
breeches and black leather gaiters and ankle boots.
Figure 3 is based on a photograph of a
German Officer taken in the Ottoman Empire probably around 1916 or
1917. He wears an Ottoman officers' lambs wool Kalpak (see
Ottoman Uniforms)
along with a privately tailored German 1910 officers' tunic. The 1910
infantry tunic had eight buttons down the front and hip pockets only.
Three buttoned Brandenburg cuffs were worn by most infantry regiments
piped in red. His darker
collar (seemingly without the standard red piping) is a variation due to
private tailoring. His rank is again shown on the braided shoulder straps. On his right breast he wears the Ottoman "Halbmond"
war medal (see Medals Details Page),
on his left breast he has a small strip of medals worn as miniature
ribbons, below that he wears another medal that is difficult to see in
the original photograph but is most likely an Iron Cross first class,
while he has the Iron Cross second class worn in his second buttonhole.
His trousers are of the noticeably lighter slate grey shade while his
footwear cannot be seen in the original photograph.
Figure 4 is based on a
photograph
of a German Storm Trooper of the Georgian Legion on the march to Georgia
in 1918. The Georgian Legion was a unit sent to stabilise the newly
formed Georgian Republic in 1918 and to secure its oil wells for
German use against Bolshevik (and Ottoman) forces in the area. The
Georgian Legion was mostly made up of Bavarian units (and thus wore
Bavarian insignia and Cockades),
this storm trooper is however from the Prussian 10th Assault
Battalion ("Sturm-Batallion Nr 10").
This storm trooper is dressed exactly
as he would have been on the Western front at this late stage in the
war. He wears the 1918 steel helmet with angular camouflage pattern.
His uniform consists of the standard German 1915 field grey tunic,
slate grey trousers with red piping. As a storm trooper his elbows
and knees have leather reinforced patches. He wears field grey
puttees and mountain boots. His equipment is blackened leather 1909
pattern with additional canvas ammunition pouches carried over his
shoulder. He is armed with a Mauser Karbine 98 and a trench knife instead of a bayonet.
Although some sources claim the Georgian Legion wore Khaki
Tropical Uniforms like the Asienkorps, most period photographs show
them in standard field grey. To date I have only seen two possible
photographs of German troops in Georgia in tropical uniforms. One
photograph (published in "Tropenhelme der kaiserliche Marine, der
Ostasiatischen Truppen und der Schutztruppen"
by Ulrich Schiers - see Book Reviews Page)
shows a figure in khaki Asienkorps uniform with tropical helmet, the
photograph is signed from the "Libmon" mountains, though I have yet
to find this name on a map of Turkey or Georgia. Another period photograph
recently sold on E-bay, showed a Hauptmann v. Krieger (named as the Chief
of the Military Mission in Tiflis), in the photograph he is wearing a
white or possibly pale khaki tropical uniform as worn by Asienkorps
officers. |
