A Second War Kriegsmarine Oberleutnant Tropical Engineer's Tunic 1943

The tunic is fabricated from a khaki cotton, the shoulders adorned with First Lieutenant (Oberleutnant) shoulder boards, each board incorporating with four rows of silvered aluminum wire threading, wrapped around white cord, in a chevron formation, with a loop creating a button hole for uniform attachment at the neck end, each board with a silvered Engineer cypher and a gilt pip designating the rank of Oberleutant, on a black wool base, the loops at the neck end housing a non-magnetic silvered zinc button bearing a fouled anchor, each board secured in place via a black wool strap. There is a dual hook and eye at the opening of the collar, ensuring a snug fit at the neck line. There are four pockets on the front, one on each breast and larger ones at the waist on both sides, each of the breast pockets designed with a pleat and a fold over flap with reinforced button hole and a non-magnetic silvered zinc button bearing a fouled anchor, the waist pockets designed without pleats, flaps and buttons. Above the left breast pocket is a Kriegsmarine eagle in fire gilt tombac, secured in place to the tunic via a horizontal pinback and hook on its reverse that are fed through three brown embroidered loops of the tunic. The front has a vertical row of six silvered aluminum buttons bearing a fouled anchor, each with magnetic metal cores, five are maker marked "OVERHOFF & Cie" and marked with the company's insignia incorporating the initials "OLC" within a diamond-shaped border on the reverse, the third button from the top is unmarked, facing an equal number of reinforced button holes on the left side. Inside, the seam joining the sleeves to the body of the tunic is lined with a strip of off-white cotton in both locations, with a khaki cotton strap in the collar for hanging the tunic on a hook. There are numerical stampings in black ink just inside the opening on the right side, with "82 84" above "113 100" and the date "1943" below. The tunic measures 460 mm across the shoulders and 740 mm in length overall, exhibiting scattered nips in the fabric and light soiling on the exterior, with silvering wear on the Engineer cyphers, the stitching on the tunic intact throughout. Better than very fine.