We’ve talked a lot about Serbia during our regular episodes.
From the war’s beginnings and the repeated failures of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to
conquer Serbia, to its invasion at the hands of the combined Central Powers, then to the
exodus to Corfu where the remnants of the Serbian army were reconstituted to carry on
the fight.
And today I’m not going to look at what they did, but what they wore.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War special episode about Serbian uniforms in
the First World War.
Well, it’s also about some of their uniforms from before the war.
See, even though Serbia was officially independent after the 1878 Congress of Berlin, it had
been fairly independent from the Ottoman Empire in reality since the 1830s, with it’s own
ruler, constitution, parliament, and army.
And there was a real desire to equip that army like a modern European one.
And even to the end of the 19th century you could see foreign influences at work on Serbian
uniforms, depending on the current political situation.
At first the influence was strongly Russian, and in fact the first uniforms were actually
Russian ones, but with Serbian insignia.
In the 1870s you could see French style Kepis and German pickelhaube simultaneously.
However, it was at the beginning of that decade, in 1870, when the Regulation of Military Clothing
came out and the standard uniforms of the both the officers and the enlisted men became
more practical and appropriate for the modern battlefield.
In 1896 a new pattern emerged which was quite different from the Austrian inspired 1870
pattern.
It was clearly influenced by Russian uniforms, and was a ploy by King Alexander to get more
Russian support after his father’s pro-Austrian policies.
The men still wore the shajkacha on their heads but the officers wore the shapka peaked
cap.
A new kalpak - a fur busby - was introduced for parade.
The tunic was dark blue and single breasted.
Trousers were grey-blue and the greatcoat dark blue.
Collars and shoulder straps were in the colors of service.
Now, this uniform was replaced in 1908 but is still important for WW1 since Serbia couldn’t
produce enough modern uniforms for everyone, so the 1896 uniform was all over the battlefields
of the Balkan Wars and this war.
In fact, many reserve officers and 2nd Ban troops - soldiers 32-37 years old - you’ll
see wearing the “old blues” in pictures from back then.
The soldiers’ uniforms by now focused on simplicity and functionality, but not so those
of the officers.
The 1900 pattern officers’ uniform introduced the mundir, a double-breasted tunic with six
buttons in each row.
It differed in color depending on branch of service, but eventually all regiments except
cavalry wore black mundir.
Cavalry wore light blue.
Trousers were black except for the cavalry and general staff who wore red with two black
stripes.
The 1908 olive green uniform pattern was a field service pattern for all ranks, to be
worn on all duty occasions.
The officers’ tunic was made of wool and single breasted with 8 hidden buttons and
had two pockets on the chest and two down the sides.
The upturned velvet collar showed the color of service.
The summer tunic was the same cut but made of linen or cotton and was white.
The trousers and greatcoat were also the olive green.
The coat was waist less and double-breasted, with six buttons down each side.
There were two pockets with flaps on the sides and the left one was cut through for the sabre.
There was a long slit up the back for horseback that could be buttoned.
Boots were black and came up just below the knee.
The headgear was an olive green shajkacha.
They had a leather belt with a holster for a handgun and a leather sabre hanger, a sabre,
map case, binoculars and a case for them, and a canteen.
The enlisted men had shajkacha, tunic, trousers, greatcoat, and boots.
The shajkacha was olive green wool with no decoration.
The flaps could be folded down in cold weather and a piece of cloth could be easily attached
to the back in the summer to protect the neck from the sun.
Tunic was olive green wool with seven hidden black bone buttons.
It had four pockets, the two chest pockets with scalloped flaps.
Earlier models had flaps on the lower pockets that could be snapped shut, but eventually
they had the same as the chest pockets.
Collar patches were the color of service and shoulder straps were of the same material
as the tunic, with one large bone button and the rank insignia on top.
Soldiers that carried rifles had a roll on the right shoulder strap to keep the rifle
sling from slipping off.
Sergeants had the color of service piping on the shoulder straps.
The trousers were olive green and were adjustable for high or low boots.
The Greatcoat was the same color, with the collar turned down with service color patches.
When not in use it could be rolled up like a bandolier over the shoulder.
Tall boots with soft legs were used by the artillery and cavalry; the infantry got low
black marching boots.
There was, though, a chronic shortage of footwear, so many soldiers were issued with opanci,
traditional leather peasant shoes.
They were cheap and easy to mass-produce and since most of the infantry were peasants,
they were used to them.
The infantry carried a belt with ammo pouches, two on the front holding 45 rounds each, and
one on the back holding 60.
They had a water bottle and an entrenching tool, and a backpack was issued in smaller
numbers, but most soldiers carried a plain white bread bag on its own strap.
However, these uniforms were what the Serbian army used early in the war, before the retreat
through the mountains of Albania and the regrouping on Corfu.
Most of their uniforms were lost or destroyed during this time, and the new reconstituted
Serbian army that fought the remainder of the war in the Balkans was equipped mostly
by the French and wore their uniforms.
Many officers, though, kept their 1908 patterns or had new ones made so they were often wearing
totally different uniforms from their men.
150,000 French Adrian helmets were issued and they bore the Serbian crest on the front,
and the kit the soldiers carried was basically French.
Compared to the other nations, Serbian uniforms and gear were durable, simple, and practical.
The olive green blended in pretty well with Serbian vegetation and the relatively low
weight was a great plus in the hills.
There were a couple of downsides, like the ammo pouches were fairly bulky, but the real
downside was that Serbia was not a wealthy nation and, especially after the two Balkan
wars, could not afford to dress and equip all of its troops.
So the First Ban, soldiers 21-31, had the 1908 uniforms, the 2nd Ban, as I said, also
had a bunch of the old 1896 dark blue uniforms, while the 3rd Ban, ages 18-21 and 38-50, usually
only got the greatcoat and the shajkacha, but sometimes wouldn’t even get that.
They might only have civilian clothes, and that gave Austro-Hungarian troops the excuse
to shoot or hang them as guerrillas and not regular soldiers.
Much of the 3rd Ban also only had one ammo pouch for their single shot rifles.
Nevertheless, it must be said that combat experience, resourcefulness, perseverance
and just the plain old will to fight made these Serbian peasants into some of the finer
soldiers of the war.