The Black Panzer Jacket

The Luftwaffe style black panzer jacket was identical in style to that of the Army and was drawn from Army stocks. It was manufactured with black wool and was double-breasted, short-waisted and with a large collar with pointed lapels. The wrap of the double-breasted front was nearly all the way across and then angled back down to the waist. The insignia consisted of the Luftwaffe national emblem, first on the blue-gray wool backing and later in a matching black backing. These were machine-woven or embroidered in white thread. Officers sometimes substituted silver bullion national emblems. Enlisted and NCO collars were piped in white cord and officers in a silver twist cord. Collar tabs were white with the Army panzer metal skull devices. At first these collar tabs were the elongated Army panzer tabs in black and were piped in white. Later they were converted to the white collar tabs and shaped in the more square Luftwaffe configuration. For a short period of time, when the white collar tabs were ordered to be piped in waffenfarben, these collar tabs were piped in pink. In some instances, after the order to remove the white collar tabs from combat tunics was issued, some personnel removed the tabs and placed the metal skull devices directly onto the collar. At the beginning the waffenfarben on the shoulder boards and shoulder straps were white but later indicated the branch color, i.e. pink for panzer. While the Hermann Goring outfit was a regiment, the "Regiment Göring" cuffband was worn on the right sleeve. It was replaced with the "Hermann Göring" cuffband after the transition to a panzer division. Badges were worn on the right breast area.

The Black Panzer Trousers

The Luftwaffe black panzer trousers were also procured from Army stocks and were identical in style to that of the Army. These were modeled like the M1942 Kielhose with tapered legs and buttons, straps and drawstrings at the cuffs. Manufactured with black wool, these trousers had two slash pockets with forward closing flaps with a single button. On the back right was a single buttoned internal pocket. Interior lining and pockets were made of a white cotton linen.