Splinter/Splittertarn/Splitternmuster Usage Reference Photos

Thanks for sharing these great photos.  Very impressive stash from your personal archives.
 Do appreciate !

good reference photos including some new ones! In many of the LIFE photos from a field exercise can see the Austrian y-straps and variant of M 57 rucksack with olive flap instead of camo. Tested by BW in small numbers 1957-59, but not adopted. Can also see the Austrian y-straps on an officer in the background of the 50s colour photo with mortar.

Several of the colour photos are 90s recreations from the inaccurate and outdated Peterson camo book (the 2 FJ photos with helmet covers, BW soldier with BGS pouches/green M1 helmet liner and the BGS Splittertarn smock with matching trousers). Unfortunately photos from this book often posted as period photos on many sites. The helmet covers are probably 80s covers made from older materials (camo covers not used in 50s, only hoods) and BGS setup has some mistakes (should only have 1 ammo pouch, miss early y-straps, camo trousers only known from Peterson book not period pics). The BW photo with liner is worst - late 60s-70s y-straps, BGS pouches, US? liner and French TAP belt. BW not really use BGS pouches, but this book liked to show them on all early BW recreations.

The colour photo of the Spindkontrolle is from late 50s, not 1970.

Great batch of pictures!

K1989 found a bunch of things to note that my eyes picked up on. I have a few others:

1. First picture shows BW using Kar98k rifles. As far as I know the BW did not use the Kar99k in any significant way. Maybe an emergency substitute while M1 Garands were being sourced?

2. There's a couple of pictures of soldiers using surplus British Enfields. I had not see this before, but a little digging showed that Luftwaffe units used them very briefly. One of the images posted confirms this as it is of a named LW unit. The Enfield was likely a short term situation while Garands were being sourced. Perhaps the Kar98k picture was a LW unit that didn't yet have even Enfields?

3. The "dark" pictures show a soldier with the experimental G11 and Sumpftarn, not Splittertarn, helmet cover.

4. The color photo of a FJ with his face scratched out is interesting. This was taken sometime in the late 1960s or maybe early 1970s. Beret badge is the earlier type without the German flag. FJ units continued to wear Splittertarn jackets long after they were out of service. Since they were not officially worn they could badge them however they wanted to. When the jackets were in active service the only badging authorized was rank.

Steve

1. BGS transfers used Kar.98k for short time in 1956 until could be reequipped with M1. There was shortages after the transfer of so many members of BGS into the early BW.

2. LW troops used the No.4 Mk.2 Enfield instead of M1. Probably because lower priority (mostly training units, security units, etc.). It still appear in some photos until early 60s, so they went direct from Enfield to FAL/G1 and G3.

3. There is a better quality photo of same soldier, that show the Sumpftarn clearer, very bright colours like some later BGS and commercial copies of BGS. Only photos i have seen of Sumpftarn covers with BW.

4. This photo is after 1973 (shoulder ranks and maroon beret), the subdued badges suggest even later. There was trend in 70s in some FJ units to wear these jackets badged like Moleskin, when they could get away with it.

Kl1989 wrote:1. BGS transfers used Kar.98k for short time in 1956 until could be reequipped with M1. There was shortages after the transfer of so many members of BGS into the early BW.

2. LW troops used the No.4 Mk.2 Enfield instead of M1. Probably because lower priority (mostly training units, security units, etc.). It still appear in some photos until early 60s, so they went direct from Enfield to FAL/G1 and G3.

Thanks for the confirmation! One thing we all have to keep in mind when looking at historical pictures is that they only show us what was true for that soldier/unit on that day of that year. For all we know that BW unit with the Kar98k might have received Garands later on that afternoon

3. There is a better quality photo of same soldier, that show the Sumpftarn clearer, very bright colours like some later BGS and commercial copies of BGS. Only photos i have seen of Sumpftarn covers with BW.

Here's a low resolution image of the same soldier:

4. This photo is after 1973 (shoulder ranks and maroon beret), the subdued badges suggest even later. There was trend in 70s in some FJ units to wear these jackets badged like Moleskin, when they could get away with it.

Ah! Of course. Didn't think about the subdued badging hint for dating this.

Steve

Thank you very much K1989 and Steve for your comments, these are all details I either knew nothing about or completely missed upon initial viewing.
The Kar.98k and Enfield usage is interesting, I had no idea the extent of their usage/issue beyond the photos. I also didn't even notice the Austrian y-straps/rucksack!
I know the Peterson photos are often known to be inaccurate today, I included them just for some older representation pics rather than try to create some on my own as I wasn't sure if my own impression would be all that much better. Still hard to fault him considering how little info was available overseas at that time.
And thanks for the brighter picture of the G11 trials; I didn't realize it was actually Sumpftarn.
Hopefully soon I'll find the time to post another photo dump thread of all the BGS photos I've accumulated, so everyone can pick out more interesting details or falsifications I missed.
Thank you both again!

TennoHeikaNate wrote:I also didn't even notice the Austrian y-straps/rucksack!

That's a pretty famous picture that easily catches the eyes of advanced BW collectors.  We had a discussion about it on WAF many years ago, but couldn't find it after a quick search.

I have one of the packs with olive flaps, but I think I missed the picture.  Which picture is it in?

Another interesting pic is of what is probably Luftlande troops firing a howitzer.  They are wearing at least two different models of experimental helmets:



Steve

CollectinSteve wrote:
I have one of the packs with olive flaps, but I think I missed the picture.  Which picture is it in?

They are in several of the LIFE photos taken during a field exercise, close to bottom of first post. In the photos with Klappspaten in the upper corner of the packs.[/quote]

AH! Nicely spotted! I've seen those pictures plenty of times and just didn't notice the details of the pack.

None of the pictures above show how the Austrian straps connected to the BW belt. Maybe they used Austrian leather D ring loops?

The canteen is another bit of kit common with Austria at the time. IIRC it was a Bundeswehr item that the Austrian Bundesheer tried out, not the other way around?

Steve

strangely the Austrian y-straps front hooks normally not attached to anything, only worn to support the rucksacks. But a few soldiers appear to use D-rings (most noticeable is the Oberstleutnant in experimental Filzlaus from the colour photo with mortar), but hard to tell what model. D-rings look square? so could also be BGS style.

More footage of the rucksacks in use can be seen in the 1957 Lehrfilm "Zurechtfinden im Gelände" (after about 12:50), which can be found on youtube.

Yes Austria copied the canteens from BW. They were based on EVG prototypes, but Austria was not part of the project and developed it from BW. 1959 gasmask can was also copied by Austria (larger than BW model). So there seem to be some exchange/cooperation in late 50s.

Dang. I found the backpack I thought was the same as in the pictures, but it isn't. Mine is more or less the standard apline design with two backwards facing flapped pockets secured by leather straps with a roundish flap secured by a leather strap. The curious thing about this pack is it has the same construction as older BH packs, but I can't find a stamp on it anywhere. Usually there's at least some trace of a stamp. So now I'm not sure of anything other than it was produced in Austria.

I think the one in the pictures above is this one, but without the Austrian camo on it:



The one I have is dated 1959. I don't think they were produced any earlier, maybe 1958. That's too late for the LIFE pictures, yes? Then perhaps the Austrians made a non-camo pack earlier to go with the M56 uniform and that is what the Bundeswehr trialed?

Steve

yes the rucksacks were this model except flap same colour as rest of rucksack. Also leather loops were sewn instead of riveted (also see sewn loops in early Austrian photos).

I have seen a couple with olive flaps in collections, 1 was dated 1960 and too late for the trials, so they were also produced after BW trials, supposedly for some Austrian civil organisation/civil defence. So the BW rucksacks were probably not special production.

Thanks for the confirmation!

There isn't much info on the Internet about the BH M56 uniform.  I have an Austrian produced book that covers the time period 1955-2005 and there appears to be two pictures of Austrian soldiers wearing backpacks without the camouflage flap.  One is dated 1958 and the other 1960.  Unfortunately the pictures are rather small and the pack isn't fully visible.

A theory is that the pack was part of the M56 uniform and they were issued into the early 1960s while the camouflage type production ramped up.  Earlier examples were sent to Germany for testing because a) the BH didn't need them and b) they didn't have distinctive BH camouflage on them.

Steve

P.S. the later version of this pack has all three straps on the outside of the flap. I have one of those as well.

interesting, always thought these rucksacks were introduced with the leather equipment and camo field uniforms in 1957, described as M 57 in some sources (also can see camo rucksacks worn with the M56 uniforms in late 50s). So would have replaced the US M44 pack and webbing originally issued with M56 uniform. Or the green flaps were originally the Austrian trial model?

Kl1989 wrote:interesting, always thought these rucksacks were introduced with the leather equipment and camo field uniforms in 1957, described as M 57 in some sources (also can see camo rucksacks worn with the M56 uniforms in late 50s). So would have replaced the US M44 pack and webbing originally issued with M56 uniform. Or the green flaps were originally the Austrian trial model?

The early period is somewhat confusing because a lot changed in a short period of time. Earliest piece of camouflage equipment I've seen is dated 1958, but I've seen a lot dated 1959. That indicates to me that 1959 is when full production ramped up. My guess is anything before 1959 was a trials item.

Here is a link to a thread here about Austrian uniforms. I started it in 2009 and updated it in 2016. I should probably update it again as there's a few new pieces of information:

https://iacmc.forumotion.com/t515-documenting-austrian-dot-camo-items

Steve

Kl1989 wrote:yes the rucksacks were this model except flap same colour as rest of rucksack. Also leather loops were sewn instead of riveted (also see sewn loops in early Austrian photos).

I have seen a couple with olive flaps in collections, 1 was dated 1960 and too late for the trials, so they were also produced after BW trials, supposedly for some Austrian civil organisation/civil defence. So the BW rucksacks were probably not special production.

I believe you are referring to this 1960-dated pack, which I had posted on WAF in a similar thread, where you eventually enlightened me as to its true origin. Given that it's a conversion piece rather than purpose-built, I agreed with you that your civil defense explanation was far more plausible than it being a trial item. Incidentally, I used one of these as my book bag in college, drawing some looks from a couple of professors...

AH!!! I remember this discussion on WAF now! Yes, drill out the original rivets, sew some cloth on top, pop the rivets back in. Easy conversion.

So yours is dated 1960? Well, the BW trials were likely in 1956, possibly early 1957, so this particular pack definitely converted long after the BW trials. More likely this pack was taken out of BH service sometime in the 1960s or later, either when it was replaced by the 2nd Model (latest date 1963) or sometime after. For what purpose I wouldn't even know what to guess.

The question, therefore, still remains as to what the BW used. Since the packs were in active production it would have been a technically simple matter to have the factory produce a short run with solid color cloth. Not expensive and could be done on short notice. It would be a lot cheaper and quicker to do that then to have someone modify a bunch of packs after they were manufactured.

However, there is still the question of when the first of these BH camo packs were put into service. It seems to me it was after the BW trial period, either 1958 or 1959 being the first year of production. Hence my theory that the camo pack is based on a previous pack without camo and the BW used some of those.

Steve

Austrians used US M44 webbing before this gear was developed. The new equipment was supposed to be introduced 1957 with camo, but even the camo uniforms were not universal issue at first of course. At least some of the 1957 gear must have been available and in use with Bundesheer in 1957, since BW tested this gear already at that time. Bundesheer continued to use M44 webbing in some units into early 60s as it gradually replaced.

There was also another green rucksack posted on WAF, that was almost identical with the model in the BW photos and appear to be factory made (not a converted camo example). Unfortunately maker stamp must have faded, because owner not find it or take photos of it. Hooks for attachment on y-straps were later replaced with WW2 Tornister straps (probably for civilian use without the y-straps) and hooks for the side straps on bottom corners were replaced with d-rings (BW photos show traditional German style hooks rather than carbine hooks like most Austrian examples). Rucksack not mine, but repost here for reference.

Thanks for the pictures! Yeah, it looks pretty much the same as the standard M57 pack, but without the camo cloth. As I said above, it would be quite easy for some to have been produced explicitly for BW trials.

As for when this might have been trialed, I looked at the famous picture again and noted that the general on the right is wearing a 4 pocket tunic. So that puts the timeframe about 1958 or even 1959. Which means that the BW was possibly testing for the new uniforms that were adopted in 1959. The Life Magazine images were published in 1959, so certainly not later than that.

The first M57 items were definitely available sometime in 1958. Maybe the packs without camo were early production before the camo cloth was available?

Steve

the earliest appearance i have found for the Austrian rucksacks and y-straps with BW is in the 1957 Lehrfilm "Zurechtfinden im Gelände". The colour photo of the Oberstleutnant in trial Filzlaus with Austrian y-straps is from Sept. 1958 manuevres in Urmitz, so they were still in use later in 1958. The LIFE series from photographer James Whitman is dated Feb. 1959, but unclear, when was taken. The weather definitely look like it could be around that time, even if earlier must be from winter 1958-59. So they appear to have been in use 1957-58/59. This time would align with tests of the web and leather mag pouches/rig and other experimental items made in small numbers to see what worked. Latter part of that time is probably wearing out old stocks, since decision to adopt something else was already made by late 1958/early 59.