Major: Bundesgrenzschutz

     Established on March 16, 1951, the West German Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS; Federal Border Guard) was tasked with protecting the newly created West German borders. When first formed, it was a paramilitary force of 10,000 men responsible for protecting the borders within a 19 mile deep zone from said borders. The BGS was, more or less, light infantry and was organized as battalions made up of companies and platoons within the companies. A notable aspect of the BGS from its inception through to 1976 was the usage of World War Two surplus German equipment and field gear, uniforms patterned on their World War Two progenitors, production of field gear derived from their World War Two equivalents, and the continued (to this day) use of the stahlhelm. One reason for this was due to the BGS falling under the Bundesministerium des Innern (Federal Ministry of the Interior) rather than the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (Federal Ministry of Defense). The German Bundeswehr (Federal Defense), which was founded on November 12, 1955, was under the Bundesministerium der Verteidigung and there was initial resistance (especially by France) of rearming West Germany. The looming Cold War changed this, resulting in the creation of the Bundeswehr, but there may have been an unstated desire to not have the new German army resemble its World War Two predecessor and because of this, the new German army looked much like U.S. soldiers in terms of uniform styling, field gear, weapons, helmets, and more. Only after a few years did some of the WW2-era uniform items and insignia creep back into the Bundeswehr. When the BGS was founded, it wasn't surprising that the majority of the non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and officers were veterans of World War 2, having served in the Wehrmacht. It should be noted that the wartime Wehrmacht included only the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), and the Luftwaffe (Air Force) and did not include the Allgemeine-SS (General SS) or the Waffen-SS. The influx of veterans is evidenced by the BGS officer in the photograph here.

     The officer holds the rank of Major and this is denoted by the collar Litzenspiegel (collar patches) and the schulterstücke (shoulder boards) on his tunic. The BGS used the same rank insignia as the Ordnungspolizei from World War 2, keeping the same green truppenfarbe (troop color) as the wartime Schutzpolizei (State Protection Police). The dienstrock (literally service shirt) bears a resemblance to the wartime Model 1936 officer's dienstanzug (service uniform) except for the usage of a more traditional lapel. The material coloration is a light green though the collar, in keeping with the tradition of the Model 1936, is a blue-green color. On the left sleeve is the BGS Bundesadler (Federal Eagle). The medal on his left pocket is the Deutsches Sportabzeichen (German Sports Badge). It is the 1957 regulation version of the wartime era DRL (Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen; German Reich Association for Physical Exercises) version of the badge but with the swastika on the bottom of the medal removed. Had it been earned post-WW2, the scripted letters would have been DSB (Deutscher Sportbund; German Sports Association). In 2007, the letters changed again, this time to DOSB (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund; German Olympic Sports Federation). Above the left pocket is a ribbon bar consisting of his World War Two decorations. The first two appear to be the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse and Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (Iron Cross 1st. and 2nd. Class). The third may be a Verwundetenabzeichen 2. Klasse (Wound Badge in Silver) but the fourth cannot be determined with any certainty though it is most likely the Ostmedaille (Eastern Medal) for having served on the Eastern Front during the war. The collared shirt was white with a blue-green tie.

     In regards to the helmet, the BGS was issued with wartime produced M35 stahlhelm that had been taken from warehoused stocks. In 1951, production commenced on a small batch of new helmets to replace unserviceable ones with the designation M35/50. These were identical to the wartime helmets in every way with only the serial numbers giving away the newly built helmets. Curiously, most of these new helmets ended up in the hands of local German police forces rather than the BGS for whom they were made for. The second, and final, BGS helmet was the M35/53 and these can be easily told apart from the other M35 styles by the lack of ventilation holes and different liner arrangements. Since this officer's helmet has the ventilation holes, it is either a wartime issue M35 or the M35/50.

     Barely visible beneath his left arm is a pistol holster attached to his leather belt (koppel) which itself was much the same as the wartime two-prong officer's belt. The pistol was likely either a wartime produced 9mm Walther P-38 or the post-war version, the P1. This was the most common pistol in the BGS until 1975 when it was replaced by the P4 which itself was a further development of the P-38.