This was the
other ranks khaki uniform worn by the regular German Schutztruppe on active
service in South West Africa, East Africa and Cameroon. Originally
issued in 1896, it was still standard issue in 1914. Although the
example shown here was worn in South West Africa, the
uniforms
issued in East Africa and Cameroon were identical.
The tunic is made of
lightweight khaki cloth piped in blue (for all colonies) around the
collar, cuffs and down the front. It has a fall collar,
four buttoned patch pockets with rounded edges (the chest pockets
sloping slightly inwards), and six buttons down the front. The back
has no buttons or piping. The shoulder straps are made from twisted
braid in black/white/red and were worn by all NCOs and other ranks. The trousers are of
matching lightweight khaki. Some Schutztruppe trousers were piped down
the sides in blue but others, like this pair, are not.
Officer's uniforms were
very similar except they were usually privately tailored to fit, of
better quality and often had higher stand and fall collars and
slight variations in cut. Their shoulder straps were silver or
silver braid on a background of the colony's colour (Blue for South
West Africa, White for East Africa and Red for Cameroon) and bore
silver "pips" to display their rank.
This figure is wearing
the brown leather equipment issued to mounted troops in South West
Africa.
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