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This is an absolutely fascinating 8-3/4 x 12-1/8 inch, 82 page, very heavily illustrated soft cover book called Die Feldgraue Heimat (the Home Land in Field Grey) as published for the High Command of the 7th Army Corps area by Bayerland Verlag in München (Munich), Germany in 1941.

Using lots of unique photographic material and an excellent text this book explains precisely how military training facilities and defense industries meshed with the lives of the civilian population in Nazi Germany’s Wehrkreis VII under its commander, General of Artillery Wachenfeld.

Sections in this book cover subjects from military recruiting and training in Bayern to medical services and the treatment of wounded soldiers. There are military dogs and military horses, military diet research and military card file record keeping.

By far the biggest and most interesting section of Die Feldgraue Heimat is the 15 page chapter titled “The Uniform makes The Soldier.” It is quite a comprehensive examination of the manufacture, storage and dispersal of military uniforms and their parts and pieces, from tunics and shoes to shoulder boards and caps. The “best organized [military] clothing producer in the world” is shown, where people cut stacks of Feldgrau fabric into Wehrmacht uniforms, and where a tape-driven automatic sewing machine embroiders numbers and insignia on military shoulder boards, while others are busy refurbishing military uniform equipment for re-issue.

The last dozen or so pages of Die Feldgraue Heimat contain advertising for many Wehrkreis VII firms such as Mercedes-Benz, AEG, Opel Blitz, Krauss-Maffei in Allach, Stiefenhofer first aid kits, etc. A wonderful rare book in fine condition.