Early ZB and THW items - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

Collectinsteve · 02-21-2010, 09:45 PM

Although I don't really have a strong interest in esoteric uniforms, I somehow managed to accumulate a nice pile of very early BW ZB and THW uniforms and field gear. There are few people I know in my collecting circle that even know what ZB or THW are, so I'm pleased to share pics/info with those who so

Most of ZB stuff came from one seller who was cleaning out an attic, so I presume the kit all came from the original owner.

1957 ZB (Cotton). Jacket has zipper beneath the buttons, no sign of insignia being worn.

1963 ZB (Cotton). Jacket doesn't have the zipper of the 57 model, but still has a double flapped design.

1963 ZB (Wool). My guess is the above two equate to "Einsatzanzug" and this wool one Dienstanzug. But that's just a guess.

1963 THW (Wool). Very similar to the ZB uniform pictured above, but the wool is more charcoal colored and of a different wool blend. Otherwise it's pretty much the same thing.

I ran out of time tonight and therefore couldn't take pictures of the field kit, shirts, sweaters, hats, belts, and helmet (white fiber type) that I have. As time permits this week I'll make a stab at it if there appears to be interest.

Steve

Asbjoern · 02-22-2010, 10:40 AM

Steve, nice to see these jackets with collar tabs etc ... most time these show up over here in germany they come from depot stock bare of anything beside the ZB patch on the arm !
Also nice if its a grouping!

Jens

Collectinsteve · 02-22-2010, 11:53 PM

Hi Jens,

Yes, the grouping is why I purchased the items. I do not have the time, energy, money, or space to spend chasing down little odd bits of ZB or THW kit. But when I saw such a large amount of really old ZB stuff for sale at one time, and cheap (ah... the days of the weak Euro were nice for me!), I could not pass on it.

Here are some pictures of the other items that came with my ZB purchase:

ZB stamped belt, water bottle, and mess kit. The small breadbag has no internal pockets and I can't see any markings on it. I also have a brown leather ZB marked strap for the mess kit and a smaller one, probably for a backpack.

White fiberglass helmet. Cheap plastic chin strap. Marked ZB at the rear just above the sweat band.

I'm not 100% sure the metal gasmask can and gasmask (they are correctly paired) are ZB or not. I purchased this separately and there are no markings on it other than the manufacturer. The blue cloth gasmask bag is marked ZB.

Wool scarf? (very large for a scarf!), socks, and gloves. No markings on any of these items, but they came with everything else. The hat is ZB marked and dated 1963.

A wool sweater and kahki service shirt also came with the above items, as did the khaki, blue-gray, and gray wool uniforms.

Enjoy!

Steve

Asbjoern · 02-23-2010, 02:01 AM

....and even in these pictures some of the stuff hard to get over here ! Although i had the chance to get some stuff out of a former depot at my home town I wasn`t able to get things like the khaki scarf or the gloves yet... . The main problem with ZB is that stuff is rare as long as another old stock is emptied and 500 pairs of gloves enter the marked...

The NBC mask in the WH stile container may be a "recyceling produkt" - reused or made on the same machinery. The correct mask for the fabric-bag is the white rubber mask called M56 Z. You`ll find pictures in one of the older threads here...

Jens

**Gordon Craig** · 02-24-2010, 11:10 AM

Steve,

I envy you this almost complete set of ZB/THW kit. I have a number of these uniforms but none with insignia. You have added something to my reference material and I am very greatful for that.

Regards,

Gordon

Collectinsteve · 02-24-2010, 11:22 AM

Gordon,

No problem! Personally, I'm just happy to find someone who actually knows what this stuff is, not to mention appreciates it. If I'm able to help a fellow collector out, that's a very pleasurable bonus for me

I am primarily a military camouflage collector so just about everybody else I'm in contact with is either uninterested, uninformed, or both when it comes to non-military BDR stuff.

I will have some time tomorrow and will take pictures of the shirts, sweaters, and anything else I can think of lying around. I know I have a wool THW M43 hat, for example. I've also got some older Zoll stuff I'll post.

Steve

**Gordon Craig** · 02-24-2010, 12:11 PM

Steve,

Great stuff. Not much interest on most forums in none military artifacts. I look forward to the rest of your ZB stuff. Once you post yours I'll anything that I have that you haven't covered.
Please post the Zoll stuff in a seoarate thread. I have been going to start one for some time. Another area with little in print about it. It deserves its own thread.

Regards,

Gordon

Klaus1989 · 02-25-2010, 05:52 PM

Steve,
There is already Zoll Uniforms thread I started long time ago (before there was BRD subforum here), so any new ones could be posted there. If I remember correct, I bought these uniforms from you, but sold them to Gordon when I went to only BGS.

http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...highlight=Zoll

Do you have wool ZB "M43" cap? I sold one (without insignia) to Gordon. I have seen identical early THW caps with THW-Zahnrad, but never seen ZB cap insignia.

regards
Klaus

**Gordon Craig** · 02-25-2010, 06:09 PM

klaus,

According to my reference material, the ZB wore the THW M43 style hat without any insgnia.

Regards,

Gordon

Collectinsteve · 02-25-2010, 10:03 PM

I have no time to take pictures tonight or probably tomorrow. This is now an itch I want to scratch, so I will get things sorted this weekend for sure! One problem with having so much stuff is I don't know were everything is

I have a wool M43 hat, but now I can't remember if it is ZB or THW. I know I bought a THW badge for it, so at some point I must have thought it is THW. I am not curious to see if that is correct!

I'll post my Zoll stuff to Klaus' existing thread if that makes sense to do. And that Zoll hat looks mighty familiar to me

Steve

Asbjoern · 02-26-2010, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gordon Craig

klaus,

According to my reference material, the ZB wore the THW M43 style hat without any insgnia.

Regards,

Gordon

Yes ! The ZB definitely wore a bare hat made of the same fabric as the wool uniform...

Jens

**Gordon Craig** · 02-26-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collectinsteve

I have no time to take pictures tonight or probably tomorrow. This is now an itch I want to scratch, so I will get things sorted this weekend for sure! One problem with having so much stuff is I don't know were everything is

I have a wool M43 hat, but now I can't remember if it is ZB or THW. I know I bought a THW badge for it, so at some point I must have thought it is THW. I am not curious to see if that is correct!

I'll post my Zoll stuff to Klaus' existing thread if that makes sense to do. And that Zoll hat looks mighty familiar to me

Steve

Steve,

If your cap is a ZB one it will probably be marked ZB inside it. I know what you mean about having so much stuff you can not find it. I had to put a bunch of boxes back into storage so I had room to unpack the boxes I kept at my home. Regardless of how much I try to organize stuff things always seem to get lost. Too many different interests and too short an attention span!

Regards,

Gordon

Collectinsteve · 02-27-2010, 05:31 PM

I have yet to find my cap, but here are some other pictures as promised:

ZB breadbag. No date and only "BUND" stamp:

ZB marked canteen. No date, unfortunately:

THW field belt, perhaps dated 1980:

ZB wool sweater which appears to be from late 1950s:

ZB brown cotton shirt. I assume it was intended to be worn with the wool uniform:

Steve

Collectinsteve · 02-27-2010, 05:33 PM

1957 ZB trousers. Way over engineered!

1963 ZB trousers, less over engineered than the 57 model

Wool trousers for ZB uniform. Unfortunately I also found out my trousers hanging with my 1963 THW uniform are actually ZB

Steve

hoover · 03-04-2010, 07:15 AM

Very nice. I am collecting Zivilschutz, too, and is even quite rare here in Germany.