Heer M43 cap made of recycled uniform parts, 1944

[CWP]

I wanted to share this interesting Heer M43 cap.

Every part of the exterior of this cap has stitching traces from originally having been part of some other garment. There are traces of old seams on the top, and on the brim, and the turn-down flap as well as both sides of the brim are made of parts pieced together. Even the tan lining in the crown was originally part of something else. The two main parts of the flap have all of the nap worn off of the inside, which was the outside of whatever garment was recycled to yield these components.

This cap shows honest wear and also some moth damage which occurred after the cap was assembled.

I would be grateful for opinions and feedback on this cap. I have not handled one like this before.

[CWP]

More photos. I can post more images if needed.

[Lenny W]

Pretty crazy looking cap I remember Gerard (relic hunter) had one years ago and so did Bill shea and both were from the same makers.

[galizien41]

Not pretty. But real!. Congratulations!

[4th division]

Great example Chris, it is not pretty but real. But at the other hand; thats from the opposite spectrum of aesthetics. I’d love to handle it one day.

Best regards

Frederik

[billbert]

Yes I also owned a coat of many colors M43..absolutely textbook period made..Billbert
Thinking these were also remanufactured used cloth many times too..
Had an M34 that was just taken apart and flipped over to the less used side..

THEY NEVER DID THAT....YEAH THEY DID !!

[Zauberflöte]

I like it! Indeed, the beauty lies in its's ugly construction.

Although this one has all the looks of being original, one indeed has to be careful due to theatres are known in having assembled caps in similar styles as well. Like the bundle of RAD sidecaps being constructed from several different caps and often surfacing in the maketplace.

[Glenn McInnes]

one indeed has to be careful due to theatres are known in having assembled caps in similar styles as well.

This is the issue that I always had with these..It always seemed odd to me that a German factory producing large numbers of headgear a day would bother with such a time consuming process.

Unless of course it was a slow day at the office.




Glenn

[billbert]

I would speculate at this refabrication location..the labor was free..I also think I see a final destination of HIWI or 2nd line Billbert

PS the one I landed came from WW2 US Airborne vet..

[RobertE]

Absolutely original IMO, and a fascinating insight into wartime production desperation. Factory made - very neat.

I had a tunic that would have been a very good pairing with this cap.

s/f Robert

[TWS]

Agree with those who think the cap is period. Germans were very thrifty and tried to avoid throwing away anything that could be refurbished. And, as others have touched on, the TR had literally millions of forced laborers. Not only in occupied countries like Poland - ala "Schindler's List" - but there were millions of people shipped into Germany itself and made to work in factories and on farms. Materials became scarce, but labor was cheap.

[RGD51]

Wartime frugality.... they wasted nothing, floor sweepings converted into a serviceable cap.

Robt.

[Paul Woodbyrne]

Floor sweepings into food as well !

[CWP]

Thanks for all the feedback on this one. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to have been issued a cap like this.

[galizien41]

I'd be kinda bummed if i was issued this as a soldier. Maybe Hiwi or 2nd rate troops.