M40 army cap converted

[Dion]

In my opinion the LW eagle was definitely attached during the war! The outline of the Heer eagle is clearly seen as it was used by the Heer soldier for most of the campaign. Towards the last months of this campaign the LW guy couldve used it for a while before being captured. That would explain why the outline is still dark in comparison to the rest of the cap! I seriously doubt that the vet would`ve done something like this as my experience with Vet obtained items is that they never fiddled with the booty! What for?

I`ve been able to obtain several nice items here in South Africa from Vets who fought up in North Africa and nearly always there were several cap and breast eagles amoungst the stuff including helmets and caps, and none had been altered in any shape. On the contrary, I`ve picked up stuff that was not textbook and had been altered, but wartime and NOT postwar. On this particular cap you can clearly see the thread that has been used to attach the eagle is exactly the same thread used to fix the damage on the side of the cap and its unusually thick cotton, which is not that common for modern cottons of today.
Anyway, thats just my humble opinion and if seen in hand, would more than likely be the opinion of others too!
Thanks for the interest and comments guys, its greatly appreciated.

[mike donne]

There are many many photos showing Luftwaffe personnel wearing unmodified heer tropical caps. I was shown one recently of a Luftwaffe man with an unmodified heer cap and a Luftwaffe Afrika title, putting such use into 1942, the date of your cap. Maybe your guy just took his time changing the insignia. We should go with the likely, not the unlikely, and, assuming the dealer you got the cap off is telling the truth that it came straight from the vet, it is much more likely that the insignia is period applied than not. I'd have it in my collection too.
Did you say whether it looked like the cap had had a soutache or not?
Mike

[Dion]

Hi Mike,

To answer your questions, the dealer I got it from is himself an old collector of British and South African militaries and runs an old antique shop. I know him personally and have bought stuff off him several times. This lot I bought was a walk in, into his shop by the vet who wasn't interested in his booty anymore and obviously needed the cash? All he told the dealer was that it was items he had taken from German pow's and had even marked the cap with a hand scribbled note that read " German army cap".

The cap has no indication of a soutache having ever been attached? No stich marks nor any slits where it would've been fed through the material. So my opinion is that there never was one!

Dion

[antifake]

Yes Willi,the signs of the Heer eagle are nicely visible..
My new piece ???.....still not in my hands Willi,need to wait some more days to meet my courier

The courier has to collect all stuff before visit you

[Tim O'Keefe]

"Any signs of a soutache ?

As far as the LW eagle, in my opinion it is likely postwar added. You can see the ghost of the Herr eagle compared to the natural Afrikan sun fading to the cap which implies it had the original Herr eagle in Afrika."

Should have written "post Afrika" not "postwar" in the above post #9. thanks OSS

post #14

I think it possible, even likely, that this cap was worn for a while by a Heer soldier and later acquired by a Luftwaffe man. The piece has a convincing appearance.

Yes agree little doubt this cap was worn by a Herr Solder during the Tunisian Campaign. And then acquired at the end or more likely after the Campaign in Afrika was over in a POW camp by a LW solder. Who then attached the European LW eagle. Quite a remarkable history actually.