Ritterkreuzträger in White Summer Uniform (Weißer Dienstrock)

 HEER WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The German Army (Heer) white summer uniform of the Second World War was an optional warm-weather dress garment primarily available to officers and certain senior non-commissioned officers, consisting of a lightweight white cotton tunic authorized for wear from April through September. Two principal versions existed: the older “ältere Art” model inherited from Reichswehr practice, which featured a stand-up collar, a six-button front closure and plain sleeves and was intended mainly for barracks duty, supervision of training and attendance at sporting events; and the newer “neue Art” model introduced in 1937, which had a more modern rise-and-fall collar, an eight-button front and French cuffs and was authorized as a summer walking-out and undress uniform. Both tunics were deliberately designed with fully removable buttons, shoulder boards and a metal breast eagle (Wehrmachtsadler) so that the garment could be thoroughly laundered; collar Litzen were never worn. The white tunic was customarily paired with matching white or dark trousers (or riding breeches), a white or field-grey shirt, and either the peaked Schirmmütze (often fitted with a white summer cover) or a side cap, and it served as a cooler, more formal alternative to the standard field-grey service dress during the warmer months in the homeland and in temperate occupation zones, remaining a distinctive mark of rank and privilege rather than a combat uniform.

Oberleutnant Otto Carius (1922-2015) was born on 27 May 1922 in Zweibrücken and, after twice being rejected as underweight, enlisted in the Heer in 1940, initially serving in the infantry before volunteering for the Panzertruppe and later transferring in 1943 to the schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502, with which he fought on the Eastern Front as a successful Tiger I commander credited by some sources with over 150 enemy tanks destroyed (though he himself later estimated around 100 or fewer). As Leutnant der Reserve and Zugführer in the 2. Kompanie of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 May 1944 for leading three Tigers in a series of engagements from 17 to 22 March 1944 near Lembitu west of Narva, during which his force destroyed 28 tanks, four assault guns and 17 artillery pieces. Promoted to lead the 2. Kompanie, he received the Eichenlaub on 27 July 1944 for his action on 22 July 1944 at the village of Malinava northeast of Dünaburg, when, accompanied only by his wingman Oberfeldwebel Albert Kerscher, the two Tigers charged into the village and engaged a force of 17 Soviet tanks (including several IS-2 heavy tanks); Carius personally destroyed ten, Kerscher four and nearby Sturmgeschütze three more, achieving the destruction with no friendly losses and thereby preventing a Soviet breakthrough toward Dünaburg so that a defensive front could be re-established. Severely wounded two days later on 24 July 1944, Carius recovered sufficiently to take command in early 1945 of a company of Jagdtigers in the schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512 on the Western Front, where his unit fought in the defence of the Rhine before he ordered the remaining vehicles destroyed and surrendered to American forces in the Ruhr Pocket in April–May 1945; after the war he studied pharmacy, opened the Tiger Apotheke in Herschweiler-Pettersheim as a tribute to the Tiger tank, published his memoirs Tigers in the Mud in 1960, and died there on 24 January 2015 at the age of 92.

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LUFTWAFFE WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The Luftwaffe white summer uniform, known as the Sommeranzug or Sommerrock, was a lightweight dress option primarily for officers (as well as certain officials and engineers) consisting of a single-breasted white cotton or linen tunic cut similarly to the standard blue-grey Tuchrock, featuring an open collar with lapels, four patch pockets with buttoned flaps, and four front buttons (silver-coloured for most officers and gilt for generals), which was officially authorised for wear between 1 April and 30 September each year as a cooler alternative to the wool service dress; the tunic was typically unlined or lightly constructed in a waffle-weave or gabardine fabric for breathability, with all insignia—including collar tabs (Kragenspiegel), shoulder boards, and the breast eagle—designed to be fully removable via snaps, loops, or slip-on fittings so the garment could be easily laundered without damaging rank or branch markings, and it was commonly paired with matching white trousers (Weiße Hose), a white shirt with black or dark tie, white shoes, and a white-topped peaked service cap (Sommermütze) whose crown could also be detached for cleaning, though regulations also permitted its combination with standard blue-grey trousers; outside the designated summer period the white tunic could still be worn for office duties or within closed military installations provided it was accompanied by blue-grey trousers and without collar patches, and while formal production and widespread issue were scaled back or officially suspended after the outbreak of war in 1939, private purchase and continued use remained common, especially in warmer theatres, for walking-out dress, formal occasions, or parade wear, distinguishing it clearly from the khaki tropical uniforms issued for North Africa and the Mediterranean as well as from practical flying suits.

Major Heinrich Setz (1915-1943) was born on 12 March 1915 in Gundelsdorf near Kronach in the Kingdom of Bavaria as the son of an Oberförster and entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 6 April 1936, receiving promotion to Leutnant on 1 January 1938 and later serving as an instructor at a Jagdfliegerschule before joining II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 in Norway in the summer of 1940, where he scored his first three aerial victories against RAF aircraft; appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./Jagdgeschwader 77 in July 1941, he led the Staffel during Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front, claiming numerous successes including his 45th victory by late November 1941, for which Oberleutnant Setz was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941, and continued to excel in the Crimea and during the fighting around Voronezh, becoming an ace-in-a-day on several occasions and reaching his 81st victory on 23 June 1942, the same day he received the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz (the 102nd such award) which was presented by Adolf Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier in Rastenburg a few days later, subsequently achieving his 100th victory on 24 July 1942 and ending his Eastern Front career with 135 confirmed claims before promotion to Hauptmann on 1 November 1942 and appointment as Gruppenkommandeur of I./Jagdgeschwader 27 on the Western Front in November 1942, where on 13 March 1943, during his 274th combat mission while intercepting American bombers near Abbeville, he claimed three Spitfires but was killed in a mid-air collision with a fourth over Yzengremer, being posthumously promoted to Major with a final total of 138 aerial victories.

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KRIEGSMARINE WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The Kriegsmarine white summer uniform, officially part of the Tropen- und Sommeranzug regulations, consisted of lightweight white cotton or cotton-blend garments designed for warm weather and tropical climates and was worn primarily between roughly 20 April and 30 September or in hot operational areas, with blue uniforms prescribed for the cooler months from 1 October to 19 April. For officers it typically featured an open-collar service jacket (Weißer Dienstanzug or Sommerdienstjackett) closed by four or six gilt naval buttons bearing the crowned anchor motif, four pleated patch pockets with scalloped flaps, removable shoulder boards indicating rank on a white or dark underlay, a gilt metal breast eagle (Brustadler) pinned above the right pocket, and matching long white trousers, often accompanied by a white shirt, black tie, and peaked cap or side cap; an older pattern with a stand-up collar also existed. Enlisted personnel and petty officers wore a white pull-over jumper (Hemd) with a blue jean collar edged by three white stripes, a black silk neckerchief, rank badges in light blue on the left sleeve, and white trousers, while senior non-commissioned officers could wear a white jacket similar to the officers’ pattern with shoulder straps. During wartime the white uniform saw reduced use outside tropical theaters, where it was sometimes supplemented or replaced by khaki tropical dress from 1943, and it remained a formal walking-out or service dress rather than everyday working attire, reflecting both practical considerations of climate and the Kriegsmarine’s traditional naval appearance derived from earlier European navy styles.

Kapitänleutnant Engelbert Endrass (1911-1941) was born on 2 March 1911 in Bamberg and, after service in the merchant navy, joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1935, transferring to the U-Boot-Waffe in 1937 and serving from December 1938 as 1. Wachoffizier aboard U-47 under Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, during which he took part in the successful penetration of Scapa Flow on 14 October 1939 that sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak and himself painted the famous snorting-bull emblem on the conning tower. In May 1940 he assumed command of U-46 in the 7. Unterseebootsflottille and immediately achieved major successes, sinking five ships totaling 35 347 BRT on his first patrol—including the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Carinthia of 20 277 BRT—and repeating the feat on his second patrol by sinking another five ships totaling 27 038 BRT despite a damaged periscope, among them the auxiliary cruiser HMS Dunvegan Castle of 15 007 BRT; for these early achievements as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-46 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 September 1940. After five further successful patrols that brought his overall tally to twenty-two ships sunk for 118 528 BRT he received the Eichenlaub on 10 June 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-46 (the fourteenth award of the Oak Leaves), was promoted to Kapitänleutnant, and in September 1941 left U-46 to take command of U-567 the following month; on 21 December 1941, while operating against Convoy HG 76 northeast of the Azores, U-567 was sunk with all hands by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Deptford and the corvette HMS Samphire, ending the career of one of the Kriegsmarine’s early U-boat aces at the age of thirty.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-dengan_29.html