Germany was forbidden by both the
Soviets and allies from having an army
after WWII, but in a response to the West
rearming the Federal Republic of Germany’s
Bundeswehr, the communists formed the
National Volksarmee of the DDR in 1956.
In reality this was little more than a name
change; the forces of world socialism had
been creating armed DDR ‘police units’ since
the early 1950s. The year before the Soviet
Union had formed the ‘Warsaw Pact’ of allied
communist states as a military response to
the formation of NATO, which they felt was
an aggressive threat to world communism.
matchstick-sized dark brown ‘raindrops’ on
it, in the late 1960s. This new pattern (known
as Strichtarn) may have been introduced to
reduce manufacturing costs, or as an attempt
to standardise designs with other Warsaw
Pact armies (notably Poland, which used a
very similar pattern) – either way it was
not viewed as a particularly effective
step by many Western observers.
COLD WAR WARRIOR
While the exact pattern and shade of
Strichtarn varied a little over the years of
issue it was generally issued as a
jacket and trousers suit with a
detachable jacket hood – often
worn as a cover for the
Soldat B: re-enactment ready
Prussian: Determined,
smart, efficient
From the very outset the DDR was a truly
‘German’ army encompassing the ancient
traditions of disciplined Prussian soldiering
and its centuries of heritage. While Prussia
itself was wiped off the map by the Soviet
reshuffling of central Europe, the grimly
determined, professional, smart and efficient
NVA carried the torch for Prussia.
Unlike many WP armies, where recruits
were seldom concerned with smart turnout,
immaculate drills or even interested in the
pursuit of the arts of war, the East German
‘soldat’ was a dedicated (albeit conscripted)
soldier. This professionalism and esprit de
corps is particularly apparent in the standards
of the individual soldier. While many other
communist conscripts had somewhat
lackadaisical dress standards, everything in
the NVA was ‘exactly so’ with a real
emphasis on discipline, uniformity
and spit and polish.
NVA parade uniforms are a
subject about which one could
(and many have) write volumes, but for
the purpose of this article we’ll look at the
summer combat uniform of the NVA and
explore its use as an airsofting loadout. As
usual, where our chosen models are wearing
an item of kit that is either anachronistic or
worn purely for health and safety purposes
we will mak R