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Hi Mark,
It definitely isn't something that I've seen before. No doubting that is completely consistent with the common examples with false turn ups (not that you could really call tropical caps common). I'd suggest a cap made with material/labour savings in mind, but don't really have much to base this on. Just an idea.
Take care
Mark GComment
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Tropical EM's m40
Hello,
Both the Luft and SS caps depicted below without the false turndown are attributed to French manufacturers. However, the material on the French made caps differ from the standard Heer tropical ribbed olive green fabric like yours'.
It may be that your hat was manufactured by the same firm(s) which were contracted to produce the very limited SS tropical einheitsfeldmutze. Below is a photo of such a piece from the "Kurtz" book, page 178. The material is tan colored, but otherwise the same type of fabric and cut as yours'. It was manufactured was Paul Wagenmann. The author(s) stated that these caps were first produced in 1943 and were consistent with the cut and style of the Afrikakorps cap. They are considerered to be very rare.
Hope this helps.
ChristopherLast edited by MilitaryCollect; 12-08-2007, 08:18 AM.Comment
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Chris, Mark - as always, thank you for the input. I looked at all my reference as well, and only the SS pattern matched, except for material. I would like to see the make-up of the sweat band in an SS example to compare it with my Heer item. Can anyone help out?.
I look forward to more detective work from any one who can help
One more point that I really like about this cap is the peak - notice that the thread has worn where the fingers have abraided it while the wearer has put it on and removed it?
Regards,
Mark.Last edited by NZMark; 11-11-2007, 04:57 PM.Comment
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Detail shot of the sweatband material. Note the hand-finishing.Comment
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Tropical EM's m40
Hello,
Here's the photo of the interior. I used the magnifying glass to ID. the manufacturer.
ChristopherLast edited by MilitaryCollect; 12-08-2007, 08:18 AM.Comment
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And the double row of stitch lines at the peak join to the cap body.
You gotta love this stuff!
Mark.Comment
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Tropical EM's m40
Hello,
I think you have an extremely rare cap. It's most probably an ULTRA RARE, TRUE tropical M-43 - if made by the same firm(s) and time period as its RARE SS counterpart.
Your cap may have gone into hurried manufacture to fill a need for tropical caps when the troops headed off for Tunisia in large numbers toward February-March, 1943. Therefore, contracts were awarded to firms producing tropical einheitsfeldmutzes. These few firms may have simply altered the material, but the kept the same manufacturing process and therefore produced the same basic finished product. Mark, the only real difference I see between your hat and the SS version is the sweatband. The sweatband may have been added as evidence for intended use in the most extreme tropical climate - Nord Afrika. The "Kurtz" book authors state that the SS version was intended for South Russia and Italy.
Very Nice Hat! Thank you for sharing.
ChristopherLast edited by MilitaryCollect; 11-08-2007, 09:53 AM.Comment
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Thanks Chris,
You could well be correct, but my gut tells me that it's more likely 42 than 43. I hope we hear from some others about this, as surely more exist out there...
Thanks to everyone
Mark.Last edited by NZMark; 11-08-2007, 04:52 AM.Comment
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Does anyone else have one of these that we can compare with? Any information?
Mark.Last edited by NZMark; 11-08-2007, 05:22 PM.Comment
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Hi Mark & Chris,
Nice find I like it and I agree with you both I can see absolutely nothing with the construction that would suggest that it is anything else but original .. here are a couple of pics of an SS trop cap that i owned some time ago ..
Cheers
PaulComment
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