Rucksacks in the BDM, pictures and questions

[AHR]

Is there more information on this question?


I've found these pictures of what look like JM or BDM girls, using only rucksacks:

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(this and other period photos scavenged from the net and auction sites. If this is a breech of etiqutte I apologize)

The "how to pack your bag" illustration in “Maedel im Dienst” clearly shows a rucksack, not a tornister:

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The 1936 RZM regulations mention the BDM-Rückengepäck and JM Rückengepäck, patterns to be announced:

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Did this become the DJ Marschgepäck, or was that something else entirely?

I've found this kid's pack, and it has a button with a similar knot pattern with the light brown breadbag which carries an NSDAP stamp:

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Brotbeutel identification? | Fieldgear and general equipment

I've come across the following breadbags, three of which may or may not have some association with HJ - could any of you tell if they're authentic, and if so who might have used them, where and when? All are ebay and etsy finds. The pictures here are with ruler and canteen for scale...

www.hj-research.com

I can't find any specification for the right two buttons, but they do suggest the Lederknoten. Was this button design an official patten?

Of course, there's also pictures of young women and girls with tornisters:

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and mixed, some of each:

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So what are we seeing?

Was there at one point an official or semi-official rucksack design that was phased out after '36? Or are these simply girls using their school bags or civilian hiking gear because the tornisters were too expensive or not made in their size?


Finally, I think I recall someone mentioning a color change in the regulations form tan to gray - when was that again? The HJ/DJ/BDM/JM brotbeutel specification in '36 specifies field gray, I've found that much.

 

[Garry]

Hi AHR,

The change of colour for breadbags, tent pieces (Zeltbahnen) and rucksacks to grey was first announced on 18.4.1936 in a Reichsbefehl RJF. However, the official breadbag and rucksack were already grey at that point (the Zeltbahn too possibly but I'll look into that) so the Reichsbefehl isn't changing the colour but, I think, restating what it should be.

There is more on the DJ rucksack here: Deutsches Jungvolk DJ rucksack (Marschgepäck)

It's a good question regarding the rucksacks carried by the girls and I had a quick look through my stuff to see what I could find. In a 1934 publication on uniform/equipment regulations the BDM appear to be wearing what, at the time, was the DJ rucksack. The JM girls did not have a rucksack and the HJ are shown as having the standard "Affe. As you say, there appears to have been a plan to introduce rucksacks specifically for the girls and the DJ around 1936 but I don't see anything in the RJF orders from that time or indeed later that would support the idea that this was actually carried out for the BDM/JM.

In a compendium of orders (still extant in 1943) covering all aspects of the youth organisation there is a picture in the uniform regulations for the BDM/JM showing a JM girl wearing a rucksack (see below) that is clearly not the HJ "Affe" but seems strangely familiar.. Can anyone help out? Anyway, nowhere in these uniform regulations is a specific rucksack for females mentioned within the text. I've also been through the individual orders issued by the RJF between 1933 and 1939 just in case and again, there is no mention of a specific rucksack type for the girls. The assumption then must be that they either wore the "Affe" or civilian items as your photos suggest or indeed something that was official but somehow not mentioned specifically in anything I have here. Great question though AHR and I hope that others will add to the thread. I'll keep looking through my stuff and will of course add anything that I might find.

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Edit: I added more information in the first sentence to clarify the "change" of colour.