Shoulder Boards - EM Grenadier

Shoulder Boards – Wehrmacht Grenadier (Enlisted Men)

These shoulder boards are associated with enlisted ranks of the German Grenadier troops of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.

In the German military uniform system, shoulder boards played an important role in identifying both the branch of service and the rank category of the soldier. Enlisted men wore relatively simple shoulder boards made from wool cloth without braided metal cords, unlike those used by officers and senior ranks.

This variant is produced in dark bottle-green wool cloth (flaschengrün) with matching green piping along the edges. Such examples are documented among certain production variants and uniform configurations used by German infantry formations.

The boards follow the typical flat construction of enlisted shoulder boards and feature a tongue and button fastening system, allowing them to be attached to the field tunic (Feldbluse) and other uniform garments.

The designation “Grenadier” was officially reintroduced in the German Army in 1942, when many infantry units were renamed to evoke the historical tradition of the Prussian grenadier regiments.

Shoulder boards made of bottle-green cloth with green piping represent a recognizable variation within the uniform insignia worn by German Grenadier units during the war.