WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

[WillGreen]

I'm taking a dive and I'm going to be getting a Wehrmacht Officer's uniform for softing.

However, reading around I find some issues around insignia.

Some people are okay with it, some people detest it.

I personally think it's alright for historical accuracy. I would draw the line when it comes to SS loadouts though (wearing the armband etc).

What about other people?

[kc1990]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I'd say it's fine tbh, but personally I can't understand why anyone would want to play as any member of the wehrmact.

[Mango]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I don't see a problem really I think it would look a bit odd though cause officers in pictures always seem to wear drench coat / cap which I think would look weird in airsoft. (I think WWII airsoft as a whole is a bit weird).

[WillGreen]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I'd say it's fine tbh, but personally I can't understand why anyone would want to play as any member of the wehrmact.

I think primarily, it's how damned smart they looked.

Sit a sten gun and an MP40 on a table next to each other and inspect the quality difference - MP40 comes out on top, no question.

There's also the fact that of that era it was Britain, Russia, America, Germany (at least they're the Airsoft kits you occasionally see). Germany (SS or Wehrmacht) are probably the easiest/cheapest to come by out of the lot, that I've seen.

I don't see a problem really I think it would look a bit odd though cause officers in pictures always seem to wear drench coat / cap which I think would look weird in airsoft.

Also often carried only a Luger P08 (from what I've been told). Would certainly force a different style of gameplay. I think despite this I would grab an MP40 as well (so it doesn't end up too one sided).

[Patrolpointman]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

Got no problem with it. I've got a Waffen SS loadout for use at themed games- I can fully understand why people would have issue with it but the kit is really good, I don't wear a cuff title or an arm band. I just see it as another form of camouflage and gives the hundreds of American Airborne something to shoot at.

No doubt someone will come along and label me a hardcore Nazi who wants another Reich and I can probably guess who.

[Mango]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I think primarily, it's how damned smart they looked.

idd they look smart but i think you (one) would look odd running around as a Wehrmacht officer. (not trying to put you off just my opinion)

[WillGreen]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

idd they look smart but i think you (one) would look odd running around as a Wehrmacht officer. (not trying to put you off just my opinion)

I often look odd running around my local.

[RiflemanLizard]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

No more odd than being current day SF or worrying about trades on our toy guns, I'm sure.

I personally have nothing against it and think it's all about intent. The early war Heer (obviously part of the Wehrmacht) were some of the most organised and professional soldiers of the 20th century. Why not play the Schützen and Grenadier roles? It's not like you can be mistaken for one 70 years on...

Very few of them were Nazis for a start. The problems arise when everyone wants to put on jackboots and a totenkompf, mincing around with a luger like Himmler's best mate.
I doubt actors refuse to wear it when they play a role in a movie and if done properly you're doing a very similar thing: recreating a historical role.

Like I said it's all about intent but it's good you understand how thin the ice can get. I've adopted the perspective that if you don't like it then that's your hang up, not mine. It takes maturity to realise the soreness of the subject and still be on the dangerous end.

Put on the uniform, understand that wearing field grey wool doesn't make you a jew-hating scumbag, be respectful and enjoy yourself.
Be aware however that not everyone who does it sees it in the same light. Some people should be ostracised and otherwise avoided.

The other side of the coin is you get caught up by the dark side before finding yourself filled in by fat, fair-weather paratroopers and molested by a man with an uncanny resemblance to FM Montgomery.

Indeed, some things hang in precarious balance.
Enjoy!

[Boo-Sabum Ben]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

You can find repro uk stuff. I found a field shirt and trousers for £50 each which is good. Then a stem can be had for £100

[Patrolpointman]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

No more odd than being current day SF or worrying about trades on our toy guns, I'm sure.

I personally have nothing against it and think it's all about intent. The early war Heer (obviously part of the Wehrmacht) were some of the most organised and professional soldiers of the 20th century. Why not play the Schützen and Grenadier roles? It's not like you can be mistaken for one 70 years on...

Very few of them were Nazis for a start. The problems arise when everyone wants to put on jackboots and a totenkompf, mincing around with a luger like Himmler's best mate.
I doubt actors refuse to wear it when they play a role in a movie and if done properly you're doing a very similar thing: recreating a historical role.

Like I said it's all about intent but it's good you understand how thin the ice can get. I've adopted the perspective that if you don't like it then that's your hang up, not mine. It takes maturity to realise the soreness of the subject and still be on the dangerous end.

Put on the uniform, understand that wearing field grey wool doesn't make you a jew-hating scumbag, be respectful and enjoy yourself.
Be aware however that not everyone who does it sees it in the same light. Some people should be ostracised and otherwise avoided.

The other side of the coin is you get caught up by the dark side before finding yourself filled in by fat, fair-weather paratroopers and molested by a man with an uncanny resemblance to FM Montgomery.

Indeed, some things hang in precarious balance.
Enjoy!

Thanks, put it better than I did!

[N_Scooby]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I wouldn't like it. I would not deliberately be nasty to you or label you a Jew murderer but I during a normal skirmish open day I would find it strange for someone to be wearing a German Uniform. If it was during a WWII re-enactment then you could get away with it, but not during a normal open day.

[FireKnife]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

I personally don't see an issue with it on the skirmish field as it is your choice and it is not like you stand by what that badge means in a historical sense (unless a member of the BNP turned up to airsoft in that type of kit).

Just don't do the same thing as a guy at a 'local' site. On the drive home from a WW2 game decides to get his McD's tea with his uniform still on. That turned a fair few heads (though he did do it at the only McDonalds I have ever been in that is staffed entirely by English speaking white people so it could have been a lot worse).

'FireKnife'

[RiflemanLizard]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

Well it's hit or miss. Some would argue that by wearing an insignia you stand by its implied standards and principles, and in every day life that would be a fair assessment for an observer to make.

When people see a guy in a Liverpool shirt you can safely assume he's a Liverpool supporter.
If you catch a guy in an EDL shirt you can be sure he's a member of the EDL.
Equal in our perceptions, see a fella in a swastika and you reserve every right to not like it and condemn him as a very naughty man with a leather fetish.

There is a time and a place.
In the correct environment (a film set, a photography session, a re-enactment or WW2 airsoft game) you're relatively safe from those judgements... but once you cross over into the big wide world and leave that one particular environment; you're just asking for a good old fashioned kickin'.

Wear those accoutrements in these instances and we can be pals. Wear them on your dog-walking coat however and chances are we'd not get along.

(Not so) common sense rules apply.


If you guys like reading with a cold one and have an interest in how German grunts and officers behaved, how they saw themselves and everything in between (and you should if you dress up as them); read Soldaten by Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer.
Knowledge is power and all that shit.

[PureSilver]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

Some would argue that by wearing an insignia you stand by its implied standards and principles, and in every day life that would be a fair assessment for an observer to make.

The wearer's attitude to the implied standards and principles can be offensive without them needing to back those standards and principles to the hilt. Wearing a Nazi uniform in public (see below for my definition of 'public') doesn't necessarily make you a Nazi. But it does mean that you are either staggeringly ignorant (of the offence wearing such a uniform engenders in the general public), or you either want to provoke that offence or don't care about the offence you're causing; either of those is pretty awful in my opinion. Good reasons I can think of for wearing a Nazi uniform mostly relate to historical accuracy in context (e.g. films, re-enactments, documentaries) and bad reasons mostly centre around supporting Nazi racial theory and:

how damned smart they looked.

Consider whether you think looking smart is a benefit to yourself that outweighs the offence caused to others. If you think that the benefit of looking smart outweighs the offence you cause if, say, you wear a Wehrmacht uniform to a restaurant, then I would personally shun and ostracise you regardless of what you think of Nazi political and racial theory. On the other hand, I would agree that the benefit of education outweighs the offence caused if, say, you wear a Wehrmacht uniform to participate in a documentary.

I wouldn't like it. I would not deliberately be nasty to you or label you a Jew murderer but I during a normal skirmish open day I would find it strange for someone to be wearing a German Uniform. If it was during a WWII re-enactment then you could get away with it, but not during a normal open day.

There is a time and a place.
In the correct environment (a film set, a photography session, a re-enactment or WW2 airsoft game) you're relatively safe from those judgements... but once you cross over into the big wide world and leave that one particular environment; you're just asking for a good old fashioned kickin'.

Agreed, with a few caveats regarding the nature of the photography sessions (why yes, there is such a thing as Holocaust-themed pornography). I have absolutely no issue whatsoever with people wearing Nazi uniforms as part of mainstream cinema or theatre, or as part of a historical re-enactment (again, with caveats; I don't like hearing about concentration-camp memorabilia on sale at War and Peace) or even as part of a specific WW2 airsoft game. If everyone around you had fair warning about what you would all be collectively embarking upon, and you aren't glorifying the repellent principles that drove the creation of that uniform's insignia, fair enough. I, and other people who are particularly offended by those uniforms, are on notice not to attend such events.

Like RiflemanLizard says, though, start wearing that get-up in places where it's not explicitly agreed with everyone you might encounter and you're going to find yourself making enemies quickly. I don't think black airsofters would find a badged-up Klansman an appealing opponent in a Sunday skirmish any more than I would find a badged up Nazi.

[bob86]

Re: WW2 Wehrmacht Insignia... Acceptable or not?

its no different to people that want to wear afghan insurgent / taliban type loadouts, or to an extent even want to dress up like gangsters....

there are people that come to my local in ww1 and 2 uniforms, (both allied and axis) and where is the issue with that, we can all wear whatever we like, thats half the point.

as long as you arent wearing rank i dont see any issue in wearing whatever CLOTHES you like to play