Veltzé, Karl German Paratroopers - Uniforms and Equipment 1936 -1945. Volume 1: Uniforms

The books will be indispensable to collectors, uniform enthusiasts and military historians alike. This three-volume work is the most comprehensive and detailed study of the World War II German paratrooper to date, providing in-depth examinations of nearly every uniform item - including all models of jump smocks - and equipment used from the airborne forces' establishment in the mid-1930s to May 1945. It also extensively covers specific insignia and various unique ephemera. Finally, the work provides in-depth summaries of the operations the "Green Devils" fought in, from the air assaults on Norway, Belgium's Fort Eben Emael, Holland and Crete, over ground combat in North Africa, Russia, Italy and Normandy through the Battle of the Bulge and on to the last days of the Third Reich.
The author and publisher were able to draw on an unprecedented degree of cooperation with collectors and museums from all over the world. The three volumes run to more than 1,000 pages, with thousands of specially commissioned colour photographs of original Fallschirmjäger artefacts, some of them never shown before, accompanied by many unique period black and white images, many of them hitherto unpublished.

Contents

Foreword: From a Paratrooper's Life
Introduction
Acknowledgments

Chapter I: The blue-gray uniform
Rank Insignia Headgear
Tunics and Blouses
National Insignia
Trousers
Coats
Shirts
Other Outerwear

Chapter II: Jump smocks
"M36" Jump Smock (First-Trial Model)
"M38" Jump Smock (Second Model)
"M38" Variants Worn by Sturmabteilung Koch
"M40" Jump Smock (Transitional Model)
"M42" Jump Smock (Third Model)
National Insignia
Jump Smock Rank Insignia

Chapter III: Paratrooper trousers
Paratrooper Trousers, Trial Model
Paratrooper Trousers, First Model
Paratrooper Trousers, Second Model

Chapter IV: Footwear
Jump Boots
Other Footwear

Chapter V: Tropical and winter clothing
Tropical Clothing
Headgear
Tunics and Coats
Insignia on Tropical Clothing
Trousers
Shirts
Winter Clothing
Headgear
Outerwear

Chapter VI: Special Clothing
Paratrooper gloves
Elastic Bindings
Knee Pads
Elbow Pads
Shoulder Pads
Dragging Suit
Other Special Clothing

Chapter VII: Non-standard clothing
Headgear
Outerwear
Scarves

Appendixes
Abbreviations
Specific Luftwaffe Directives, 1938
Notes
Bibliography

Author
Karl Veltzé M.A.
Born in 1962, has been interested in military history and, in particular, the history of the German airborne forces since his youth - not least because his father was among the first who volunteered for the airborne troops of the young German Bundeswehr in 1956. Mr Veltzé himself did his national service from 1983 to 1984 with Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon 252 in Nagold, Germany. Following the Bundeswehr, he studied modern history and English literature at the University of Tübingen. Although Mr Veltzé has translated a number of titles covering contemporary and military history, including several for the Zeughaus Verlag, this is his first book. He is an avid collector of paratrooper memorabilia, albeit that of the French airborne forces of the
1946-54 Indochina war.

Primary Contributor and Consultant
Patrick Ott
Born in 1970, is the grandson of a German paratrooper and has been passionately interested in history since his earliest youth. Over the years, he began to focus specifically on the course of World War II and the history of the German Wehrmacht. Ultimately, following a longer sojourn on Crete in 1998, he has concentrated on the operations and specialised equipment of the German airborne forces. He accordingly does not just collect any related artifact he can find, but also maintains contact to the dwindling number of World War II paratroopers and frequently travels to the sites of their former operations - Eben Emael, Gran Sasso, Monte Cassino, Normandy and the Ardennes among others - to gain valuable first-hand insights.