The late war economy Erel, did they exist?

[stonemint]

Late-war all-bullion Erel Transport on Gottlieb's Auction right now. It is at $505 currently--will be interesting to see how high it goes now that these Erels have been legitimized:

[jacquesf]

There sure is a pile of them around lately. I have one as a novelty piece, lightly worn, but I would not pursue an unissued one. Just does not appeal to me. jacques

[stonemint]

On the uniform e-stand:

Erel must have intercepted a bulk lot of 1938 leftover sweatbands intended for Clemens Wagner. Most of these late-late-war Erels have them (but not all):

[stonemint]

Lovely M-45 Erel on the E-stand right now. This one still uses the mint-green lining:

[stonemint]

The "missing link" LW Late-late war Erel, proving that the "textbook" Erel sweatband was dropped between November 18 and Dec 5th 1944:

[stonemint]

There sure is a pile of them around lately. I have one as a novelty piece, lightly worn, but I would not pursue an unissued one. Just does not appeal to me. jacques

Jacques, I agree. What I believe occurred is that the unissued mint ones were captured by the Allies at an OKK depot at the end of the war.

Same is true for a lot of the late-war LW LVA visors by Halfar and Erel.

[stonemint]

Nice M-45 Panzer on the E-stand right now:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=690489

[paulj]

I have a later Erel "Privat" Luftwaffe Officer's Cap . The bullion eagle has the wider cut as well. It has a later silver logo marked sweatband, typical perforated forehead area with an amber oilcloth backing. The visor has stitched edging but is black underneath. Based on this thread, I get the impression the black under the visor would not really be unusual.

At the moment, my camera is on the Fritz, but will add photos as soon as I can.

[paulj]

Need to correct the post above..the cap is an Erel "Extra" not "Privat"

[stonemint]

Transitional TSD Erel on Ebay. Note that the "air cushion" sweatband is present, but the logo is not inked in.

Mint-green Privat type lining, but logo on same is not foiled.
Ersatz M-45 visor with cello chincords.

Note the boiled-wool trim at the bottom of the visor.

[BaselA]

Mint-green Privat type lining, but logo on same is not foiled.
Ersatz M-45 visor with cello chincords.

Note the boiled-wool trim at the bottom of the visor.

VERY interesting cap - I can't say I've ever seen an Erel in this configuration.

[Koguryo9]

How late is this one? Judging from the lining and the sweat band, it doesn't appear like those late late war ones, however the presence of the ersatz visor indicates it is quite late, I guess. Left over stocks of lining and sweatband from mid war?

[stonemint]

How late is this one? Judging from the lining and the sweat band, it doesn't appear like those late late war ones, however the presence of the ersatz visor indicates it is quite late, I guess. Left over stocks of lining and sweatband from mid war?

Kogy--

I would say Fall 1944. It has the typical zinc wreath/rough trikot/celleon cords/ersatz visor/non-foiled logo of the M-45s. However, it lacks the high-cellulose content lining of the M-45s and has the cushion sweatband of the mid-war visors.

If you go a couple pages back in this thread, at least going by LW visors, Erel ditched the stirndruckfrei sweatband in December 1944.

It is also unissued--most of these are "depot queens".

[stonemint]

Hat w/ tunic on the e-stand is a late-war Erel:

[steiner99]

Perfect Stonemint!
This is the best proof! They exist for shure!