Civil Defence

[Luftschutz and other background info to be completed]

Post-War

Zivilschutz volunteer, c. 1980

Seen here is a Swiss Zivilschutz uniform as was typical of the 1980s. A simple affair, the uniform consists of a blue jacket and trousers (both designed to be worn over normal work clothes), and was also issued with a matching cap (not seen here). A typical Swiss Ceinturon is worn around the waist, although the examples originally issued to the ZS had slightly different stitching to Army-issue variants. The plastic epaulettes were made by a company called Kunststoffwerke AG, based in Stäfa, Canton Zurich, and here show the rank of 'Mannschaften' (Team Member; analogous to a Private) in the maintenance service (Betreuungsdienst). The helmet seen here is an Aluminium M18/46, painted with a distinctive yellow to ensure that it's easily visible.  Boots do not seem to have been issued to members of the Zivilschutz, and a wide variety are seen in use, including black wellingtons and Army-standard Marschschühe, but also various civilian boots.

The Zivilverteidigungsbuch, a 1969 manual on Civil Defence distributed for free to every Swiss household, is available as a free PDF here.