Germany, Luftwaffe. A Flight Personnel/Fallschirmjäger Service Blouse for a Gefreiter, Late-War Example

(Luftwaffe Fliegerbluse für einen Gefreiter der Fliegertruppe/Fallschirmjäger). A well-preserved Luftwaffe Flight Personnel/Fallschirmjäger service blouse, constructed of blue-grey wool. It features a turned-down collar which is reinforced on the reverse with machine-stitched darts, and which is flanked on each side by tabs. The latter are constructed of golden-yellow wool with buckram cores, pinned with two silvered metal alloy gulls, and measure 40 mm (w) x 50 mm (l). The shoulders are topped by straps which are constructed of blue-grey wool and trimmed with golden-yellow piping. Each measuring 50 mm (w) x 115 mm (l), the straps are fixed in place with integral loops are the outer edge and with pebbled metal buttons on the inner edge. Affixed to the upper left arm is a Gefreiter rank insignia in the form of a blue-grey wool triangular backer bearing a silver aluminum wire chevron, measuring 85 mm (w) x 70 mm (h). Two breast pockets are set into the lower half of each side, closing with horizontal flaps perforated with reinforced buttonholes meeting pebbled metal buttons. Stitched onto the upper right breast with period-original zig-zag stitching is an insignia consisting of blue-grey wool backer bearing a machine-embroidered silver-grey Luftwaffe eagle clutching a mobile swastika, measuring 85 mm (w) x 45 mm (h). The blouse closes with five buttons on the right (four constructed of bakelite, and one of zink) meeting reinforced buttonholes on the left. A multi-piece slate-grey rayon liner partially encompasses the interior, and provides two breast pockets, with an additional bandage pocket at the lower right. Two magnetic metal belt hooks are retained and fitted through reinforced eyelets set into the base material. Stamped onto the left breast pocket is an illegible Reichsbetriebsnummer (RBNr.), situated above size dimensions. The blouse measures approximately 42 cm across the shoulders, with an arm length of 56 cm, and an overall length of 68 cm (when folded on a flat surface). Demonstrating only minor signs of soiling and fatigue, this late-war example remains in an extremely fine condition.