Original Item. Only One Available. This is a tremendous Soviet M1943 uniform blouse. The blouse has infantry shoulder boards and is made from “Lend-Lease Wool” which was supplied to the Soviet Union by the United States during the early years of the war. The uniform These do not come up often!

The blouse is in great condition with scattered mothing across the front of the uniform, with the only serious hole being to the left of the bottom button. Considering this is a fully wool uniform, it is a miracle this is the extent of the damage! The shoulder boards are olive colored with raspberry padding which indicates infantry on enlisted uniforms. The buttons on this example are all retained and undamaged. There is a tag sewn into the interior of the uniform reading 135066 which is likely a soldier’s number, making this an exciting research project.

Gymnastyorka was a Russian military smock comprising a pullover-style garment with a standing collar having double button closure. Additionally, one or two upper chest pockets, with or without flaps, may have been worn. It had provision for shoulder boards and sometimes reinforced elbows and cuffs. The Tsarist version had the standing collar while the M35 version had a stand-and-fall collar which was replaced with the standing collar in the M43 version. The Soviet Military M35 version usually had hidden buttons. A double breasted version (kitel) for officers of all ranks existed during the Tsarist period.

A lovely uniform ready for further research and display.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10"
Shoulder to sleeve: 27”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16”
Chest width: 24”
Waist width: 24"
Hip width: 27”
Front length: 33"

The Lend-Lease Act (1941)

In July 1940, after Britain had sustained the loss of 11 destroyers to the German Navy over a 10-day period, newly elected British Prime Minister Winston Churchill requested help from President Roosevelt. Roosevelt responded by exchanging 50 destroyers for 99-year leases on British bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland. As a result, a major foreign policy debate erupted over whether the United States should aid Great Britain or maintain strict neutrality.

In the 1940 Presidential election campaign, Roosevelt promised to keep America out of the war. He stated, "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again; your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." Nevertheless, FDR wanted to support Britain and believed the United States should serve as a "great arsenal of democracy." Churchill pleaded, "Give us the tools and we'll finish the job."

In January 1941, following up on his campaign pledge and the prime minister's appeal for arms, Roosevelt proposed to Congress a new military aid bill. The plan proposed by FDR was to "lend-lease or otherwise dispose of arms" and other supplies needed by any country whose security was vital to the defense of the United States.

In support of the bill, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the debate over lend-lease, "We are buying...not lending. We are buying our own security while we prepare. By our delay during the past six years, while Germany was preparing, we find ourselves unprepared and unarmed, facing a thoroughly prepared and armed potential enemy."

Following two months of debate, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, meeting Great Britain’s deep need for supplies and allowing the United States to prepare for war while remaining officially neutral.