As a follow-up to an earlier discussion on this forum, and as a follow-up to the threads on Japanese Navy summer, winter, Type 3, and miscellaneous soft caps, I offer the following on Japanese Navy Landing Force (NLF) soft caps:
- First pattern NLF soft caps appear to be brown or brownish-green in color; made of wool; and equipped with a yellow felt anchor on a brown or brownish-green wool oval backing insignia, a leather chin strap, and cap tie. The cap may or may not have side air vents. Photo 1 of 4 shows a Navy seaman with a first pattern NLF soft cap while photo 2 of 4 shows a Navy officer with a first pattern NLF soft cap. The caps in the photos appear to be similar. (Was the same cap worn by all ranks?) The photo of the Navy seaman shows the leather chin strap was held in place with (brass?) chin strap retaining clips. To date, I have not seen or handled any first pattern NLF soft caps and thus don't know if the enlisted man's cap differed from the officer's cap. Likewise, I do not know what the inside of the first pattern NLF caps look like.
- The second pattern NLF soft cap in photo 3 of 4 is greenish-brown in color; made of wool; and is equipped with a yellow machine woven anchor on a green oval backing insignia, leather chin strap, sewn re-enforced side air vents, and cap tie. The inside of the cap is equipped with a leather sweatband, loose weave lining, and has a white rectangular-shaped procurement office/name tag sewn onto the inside crown of the cap. The leather chin strap is sewn in place and there are provisions for a havelock around the lower edge of the cap.
- The third pattern NLF soft cap in photo 4 of 4 is brown in color; made of wool; and is equipped with a yellow (anchor) and green (oval) bevo insignia, leather chin strap, and cap tie. The cap is not equipped with side air vents. The inside of the cap is equipped with a leather sweatband, loose weave lining, and has a rectangular-shaped procurement office/name tag stamped onto the inside crown of the cap. The leather chin strap is held in place by two side brass retaining clips and washers. The cap does have provisions for a havelock around the lower edge of the cap.
The first pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used in mid-to-late 1930's and appear to have been issued or reissued throughout the war. The second pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used during the 1940 - 1944 timeframe while the third pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used in the 1944-1945 timeframe.
If anyone has any questions pertaining to this thread, or these caps, please let me know. Also, if anyone has a first pattern NLF cap, I would be interested in hearing from you.
- First pattern NLF soft caps appear to be brown or brownish-green in color; made of wool; and equipped with a yellow felt anchor on a brown or brownish-green wool oval backing insignia, a leather chin strap, and cap tie. The cap may or may not have side air vents. Photo 1 of 4 shows a Navy seaman with a first pattern NLF soft cap while photo 2 of 4 shows a Navy officer with a first pattern NLF soft cap. The caps in the photos appear to be similar. (Was the same cap worn by all ranks?) The photo of the Navy seaman shows the leather chin strap was held in place with (brass?) chin strap retaining clips. To date, I have not seen or handled any first pattern NLF soft caps and thus don't know if the enlisted man's cap differed from the officer's cap. Likewise, I do not know what the inside of the first pattern NLF caps look like.
- The second pattern NLF soft cap in photo 3 of 4 is greenish-brown in color; made of wool; and is equipped with a yellow machine woven anchor on a green oval backing insignia, leather chin strap, sewn re-enforced side air vents, and cap tie. The inside of the cap is equipped with a leather sweatband, loose weave lining, and has a white rectangular-shaped procurement office/name tag sewn onto the inside crown of the cap. The leather chin strap is sewn in place and there are provisions for a havelock around the lower edge of the cap.
- The third pattern NLF soft cap in photo 4 of 4 is brown in color; made of wool; and is equipped with a yellow (anchor) and green (oval) bevo insignia, leather chin strap, and cap tie. The cap is not equipped with side air vents. The inside of the cap is equipped with a leather sweatband, loose weave lining, and has a rectangular-shaped procurement office/name tag stamped onto the inside crown of the cap. The leather chin strap is held in place by two side brass retaining clips and washers. The cap does have provisions for a havelock around the lower edge of the cap.
The first pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used in mid-to-late 1930's and appear to have been issued or reissued throughout the war. The second pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used during the 1940 - 1944 timeframe while the third pattern NLF soft caps appear to have been used in the 1944-1945 timeframe.
Note: Variations of these caps exist.
NLF soft caps are being reproduced in Japan. However, I have not handled any of these reproduction caps and thus do not know how the reproduction NLF soft caps differ from the World War II or earlier NLF soft caps.If anyone has any questions pertaining to this thread, or these caps, please let me know. Also, if anyone has a first pattern NLF cap, I would be interested in hearing from you.
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