Shoulder Boards - EM Infantry

Shoulder Boards – Wehrmacht Infantry (Enlisted Men)

These shoulder boards are associated with enlisted personnel of the infantry of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War.

Infantry units formed the core of the German Army and were organized into numerous regiments and divisions deployed across the various theaters of the war. These formations operated in close cooperation with artillery, armored forces, and other branches of the military.

Within the German military uniform system, shoulder boards served to indicate both the rank category and the branch of service, represented by a color known as Waffenfarbe.

This example is constructed from field grey wool cloth with white piping along the edges. The color white represented the traditional branch color of German infantry units.

The boards follow the typical flat construction of enlisted shoulder boards and include a rear tongue with buttonhole, allowing them to be attached to the field tunic (Feldbluse).

Produced by various military textile manufacturers, these shoulder boards formed part of the standard uniform equipment issued to infantry soldiers of the Wehrmacht during the war.