Gear and Uniforms of the German Soldier in 1943

By 1943, the tides of war were turning against the Third Reich as they began their great retreat out of Russia in the Eastern Front and were forced out of North Africa by the Allies. With the addition of the Allied invasion of Sicily and later mainland Italy, 1943 is seen as the official turning point in the Second World War. This is seen throughout the trends and new additions in uniform and equipment in the German forces no matter where in the world they were stationed. Today we will be focusing on the standard German Wehrmacht summer outfit and gear in Europe 1943. Headgear was complicated and diverse as the war continued on and materials became more scarce and low quality. At the same time advancements were made in engineering the gear and its tactical ability as the Wehrmacht gained more field experience in the harsh warfare that was World War II. The standard helmet was still of course the German steel helmet or Stahlhelm. Most troops would be carrying the M35 Stahlhelm in 1943 because of its superior quality except for new troops who would be issued with the brand new M42 helmet, the only difference being the unrolled edges to conserve steel in a time when steel was very much needed. Depending on the front helmet covers were becoming increasingly popular among troops and common variants were the splinter camo cover, the swamp camo cover or simply basket wire or bands strapped to the helmet for attaching natural camo like leaves and branches. The tunic that was most commonly worn by 1943 was the M43 Feldblas. It was very similar to the M42 model, the only difference being that the flaps on the breast and waist pockets weren't pointed anymore to conserve wool and time for other uses. The tunic was also now being produced in a significantly lower quality wool that was uncomfortable and rough on the skin. As with the previous models, the collar and shoulder straps were grey instead of the dark green of the earlier models. The gear and webbing of a rifleman in 1943 varied from unit to unit and also depended on which front you were fighting on, however, there was a standard kit that stayed pretty much consistent in every theater of war and in any unit of the Wehrmacht. Each rifleman would carry the standard black leather belt with black leather suspenders but in the mid-war and late war period tan canvas straps would become more common than the black suspenders because of shortages of leather. On the belt 6 black leather pouches of ammunition with 5 rounds of 7.92x52mm Mauser for the Kar98k in each pouch with 30 rounds in total, however, many soldiers would store additional ammo in the breast or waist pockets as well. Strapped to the back of the belt, standard issue was a tan bread bag containing personal items like toothbrushes and books, but also important papers like their soul butch or pay book. On top of the bread bag was the canteen and the mess kit. Although it was not usually carried into battle, next to the bread bag was a foldable feldspartan or entrenching tool. The bayonet was also sheathed in the frogging of the feldspartan. Slung around the shoulder, the tin gas mask cylinder was suspended on the back of the kit with the bread bag and entrenching tool. Originally the gas mask was carried in a canvas bag, but that was discarded as the war went on. Inside the cylinder, the gas mask was stored. The most common model of the war was the GM 38 gas mask which was almost never used because no gas was used in combat, so most were discarded and instead soldiers put additional ammo and supplies inside. For footwear, most soldiers by 1943 would be wearing black or brown ankle boots with leather gaiters instead of jack boots, which were also still worn. Thank you for watching till the end. I hope this helps you further understand a bit of World War 2 history. Suggest what you would like me to do on this channel in the future. Make sure to like and subscribe. Until next time.