German Uniforms of WWII

Book Review

by Don Featherstone

by Andrew Mollo
(11" x 8 1/2"; 160 pages; 8 pages coloured artwork; 4 pages schematic coloured uniforms plus approximately 150 black/white photographs. MacDonald and Jane's - £ 6.95p).

Andrew Mollo, the author of this book comes from a family who possess a specialised knowledge and a large collection of militaria and, in addition to documentary and feature film scripts, Andrew Mollo is the author of ten books on military uniform. This large and impressive volume will add to his reputation as, not only does it depict the great variety of uniforms worn by the Germans curing World War 2 but, in so doing, charts and reflects the progress of the war. Undoubtedly the Nazis were obsessed by uniforms and, as the book begins by stating "In no other nation was the civilian population so integrated in the service of Party and State as in pre-war Germany." This led to a multiplicity of para-military formations formed of Germans from their childhood years up to old age and all wore some form of uniform. This was well suited to the character of the German people who delighted in their many uniforms and the right to wear decorations and medals. All of these uniforms are depicted in this book and an interesting collection it is - although personally I viewed it all with that slight distaste inherent to my generation.

A further surprising aspect of German military life brought out by the photographs in this look is the number of different nations who formed part of the German armed forces whom we fought in World War 2. The book shows many of them including Arabs, Cossacks, Spaniard, Ukrainians, etc. , etc. It was customary at the time to consider them all as pressed men and to regard them with more than a sneaking sympathy but we may well have been wrong as none of them look particularly unhappy or rebellious in the pages of this book! Perhaps the situation resembled that of the Napoleonic period when the French army was similarly formed of men from other nations who, rather than being persuaded, were only too pleased to get on the gravy-train! A very well received and valuahle source of reference to both the wargamer and military collector.

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