Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Brown was to become the official color of the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A. by circumstance rather than design. A large stockpile of discounted, surplus WWI tropical brown shirts and fabric, intended for wear in East Africa, were located in Austria in 1924 and purchased by the NSDAP as a temporary measure to bring uniformity of dress to their party members. In November of 1926 the brown shirt was officially introduced, and retained, as the basic uniform item for the N.S.D.A.P. and S.A., and was eventually adopted by other political organizations such as the H.J., D.A.F., and the N.S.K.K..
This is an excellent condition example of a German WWII SA-Dienstrock Service Tunic for an SA-Scharführer (SA Squad Leader) medic, complete with the correct breeches to complete the uniform. The uniform is made from brown colored wool that gave the SA the nickname "Brownshirts". Both parts are totally correct, and the tunic even has the correct ((RZM)) tag in the inner pocket, identifying it as an SA.-Dienstrock. The hersteller (supplier) and other information is still clearly legible. The included breeches are in great shape, and show very little wear at all. The color matches that of the tunic almost perfectly.
The tunic has all the correct insignia for the period, including a wool NSDAP / SA armelbinde (armband) on the left sleeve, which is machine stitched around the upper and lower circumference. The kragenpatten (collar tabs) and schulterklappe (shoulder strap) all have stahlgrün (steel green) backgrounds, which with the silver buttons and "pips" indicates the Kurpfalz SA gruppe (group), which encompassed parts of including parts of Hesse and Baden around Koblenz, in the extreme West of Germany.
The right collar tab is the unit tab, and has a metal Asklepian (Rod of Asclepius), the standard medical symbol used throughout Germany and most of Europe. The left collar tab just a single "pip", for the& Junior NCO rank SA-Scharführer (SA-Squad Leader), a squad leader equivalent to a German Army Unteroffizier (Corporal). The sewn-in shoulder straps are made of dual rows of doubled brown-colored cord, segmented with narrow silver-aluminum chevrons, correct for enlisted and Junior NCOs. They are backed with the steel green group color as the other insignia.
Really a great example of an SA Medical Tunic from the Kurpfalz group, complete with the correct breeches and ready to display!
Approx. Measurements:
Tunic:
Collar to shoulder: 10.5”
Shoulder to sleeve: 26”
Shoulder to shoulder: 18”
Chest width: 16"
Waist width: 20”
Hip width: 22”
Front length: 31"
Breeches:
Waist: 17.5"
Inseam: 28"
The S.A.-
The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.
The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.
The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.
