The ski cap is a type of field cap used by several German-speaking or German-influenced armed forces since the late 19th century. The design originates from imperial Austria-Hungary, but is best known for its widespread use as M43 field cap used by the German Wehrmacht and SS during World War II. A similar design is used in Germany as the distinguishing headgear of the Gebirgsjäger, the only differences being the bill was slightly extended and the top panel of the hat had a smaller circumference, giving it slightly sloped-in sides. The design and its successors still in use today are the German counterparts to the American patrol cap or utility cover.
The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht, the German state, and the Nazi Party.
The Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is a camouflaged combat uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces as their standard combat uniform from the early 1980s to the mid-2000s. Since then, it has been replaced or supplanted in every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the U.S. military from World War II until 1985, when it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet. The M1 helmet has become an icon of the US military, with its design inspiring other militaries around the world.
Hauptscharführer was a Nazi paramilitary rank which was used by the Schutzstaffel (SS) between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank was the highest enlisted rank of the SS, with the exception of the special Waffen-SS rank of Sturmscharführer.
A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress uniforms worn in functions and parades. It generally consists of a jacket, trousers and shirt or T-shirt, all cut to be looser and more comfortable than more formal uniforms. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In the army branches, fabrics tend to come in camouflage, disruptive pattern or else green, brown or khaki monochrome, in order to approximate the background and make the soldier less visible in nature. In Western dress codes, field uniform is considered equivalent to civilian casual wear. As such, field uniform is considered less formal than service dress uniform, generally aimed at office or staff use, as well as mess dress uniform, and full dress uniform.
The Denison smock was a coverall jacket issued to Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, Air Landing Regiments, air observation post squadrons, Commando units, and other Commonwealth airborne units, to wear over their Battle Dress uniform during the Second World War. The garment was also issued as standard to the scout and sniper platoons of line infantry battalions.
Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ships, aircraft, gun positions and battledress, either to conceal it from observation (crypsis), or to make it appear as something else (mimicry). The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the concept of visual deception developed into an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, and camouflage was widely used to decrease the danger of being targeted or to enable surprise. As such, military camouflage is a form of military deception in addition to cultural functions such as political identification.
The modern Irish Army uniform is based on the layer principle, and is designed to provide soldiers in the Irish Army with the right degree of protection for any operational environment.
The Erbsenmuster or pea pattern was one of a family of German World War II camouflage patterns, said to have been designed by Johann Georg Otto Schick, and first issued to the Waffen-SS in 1944. The pattern had five colours, pale brown, dark brown, green, olive green and black, arranged as small rounded areas dotted over large irregular areas.
The helmet cover was first used by French soldiers during World War I.
Leibermuster is a German military camouflage pattern first used in 1945. It was the last of a family of German World War II camouflage patterns. The pattern was issued on a very limited basis to combat units before the war ended. It consists of bold irregular areas of black printed over brown and green on a pale background.
The following is a general overview of the Heer main uniforms, used by the German Army prior to and during World War II.
Multi-scale camouflage is a type of military camouflage combining patterns at two or more scales, often with a digital camouflage pattern created with computer assistance. The function is to provide camouflage over a range of distances, or equivalently over a range of scales, in the manner of fractals, so some approaches are called fractal camouflage. Not all multiscale patterns are composed of rectangular pixels, even if they were designed using a computer. Further, not all pixellated patterns work at different scales, so being pixellated or digital does not of itself guarantee improved performance.
Splittertarnmuster, Splittertarn or Splittermuster (splinter-pattern) is a four-colour military camouflage pattern developed by Germany in the late 1920s, first issued to the Reichswehr in 1931.
The Luftwaffe was the air force of Nazi Germany prior to and during World War II. Luftwaffe styles of uniform and rank insignia had many unique features between 1935 and 1945. By Hitler's decision on February 26, 1935, the Luftwaffe was to be officially the third branch of the Wehrmacht as of March 1, 1935. The new Luftwaffe was faced with the problem of uniforms, as they wanted a uniform distinct from those of the other two branches of the Wehrmacht and also wanted a clear differentiation in dress of military and civilian flyers.
M1929 Telo mimetico was a military camouflage pattern used by the Italian Army for shelter-halves and later for uniforms for much of the 20th century. Being first issued in 1929 and only fully discontinued in the early 1990s, it has the distinction of being the first printed camouflage pattern for general issue, and the camouflage pattern in longest continuous use in the world.
The Frog Skin, also known as Duck Hunter, is a battledress camouflage pattern with mottle and disruptive coloration to blend into the environment similar to a frog's crypsis skin.
Snow camouflage is the use of a coloration or pattern for effective camouflage in winter, often combined with a different summer camouflage. Summer patterns are typically disruptively patterned combinations of shades of browns and greys, up to black, while winter patterns are dominated by white to match snowy landscapes.
The TAZ 83 is a military camouflage pattern used by the Swiss Army for the Kampfanzug 57/70 and the TAZ 83. It also is known as "Alpenflage" or "pizza camouflage" among collectors of militaria as military surplus camouflage clothing it came on to the army surplus market in the 1990s.
