Africa cap / Please help

[OSS]

The cap is not a Weissbach product, as they employed a straight stitch on their cockades and had a less prominent peak. It may be a later Halfar that has been bleached. It is an interesting cap however and needs a closer look to understand just what the sequence of insignia placement was.

[The Tiger]

cap

cap detail photos / Hi guys thanks for your opinions. Is this a english or us asservation stamp? I think it is a asseration number of prisoner of war? what is your opinion?

[90th Light]

The cap is not a Weissbach product, as they employed a straight stitch on their cockades and had a less prominent peak. It may be a later Halfar that has been bleached. was.

I agree that it looks to be a Halfar. The weak and failing stitching around the circumference of the cap holding the red liner in place, is another trait of Halfar tropical M40's. Especially when worn/ bleached/ washed in hot sunny climates such as Afrika,

Chris

[BenVK]

This looks to have been a chocolate twill that got the Losantin treatment which fascilitated the whitening as opposed to sun fading and real hard repeated washings.

You were right about the chocolate colour twill.
It probably did get the Losantin treatment but most of the fading is simply due to the sun. Chemical bleaching alone wouldn't leave such a distinct border line.
Must have been worn with the Heer eagle on it for some considerable time.

[RGD51]

You were right about the chocolate colour twill.
It probably did get the Losantin treatment but most of the fading is simply due to the sun. Chemical bleaching alone wouldn't leave such a distinct border line.
Must have been worn with the Heer eagle on it for some considerable time.

Losantin treatment is the exact reason it is the way it is. The Losantin tablets are crushed to powder, water is added to make a paste which is smeared over the cap.... that is the bleaching agent and why it creates a hard line fade.... not the sun. Its a controlled artificial process that the soldiers used to give the look of a seasoned campaigner.

Robt.

[Tim O'Keefe]

Agree this cap was bleached and am curious to hear more on the bleaching agent and the technique used ? Have heard many different bleaching agents possibly used. To creat the "paste" it would take both a liquid and powder. Water, petrol, even urine might be used with the Losantin and maybe the malaria medicine ?

A fellow member tried to bleach some tropical twill with only Losantin & it was not strong enough by itself to bleach the twill to bone. It maybe needs something mixed in (perhaps petrol) to enhance the bleaching effect ?

Remember seeing a photo of some solders bleaching their tunics with the straps still on in a 55gal oil drum container.

Getting back to the cap, on a second look, now am not sure of the sequence of the bleaching and the triangle likely LW eagle applied. The area that was covered by the triangle looks lighter/white vs the rest of the cap ? So maybe the cap was bleached with the Herr eagle and then covered with the LW triangle and then sun faded too ?

The LW tunic and the shirt look great from the photos, maybe a seperate thread on them in the WAF LW Forum

[Tim O'Keefe]

Here are some DAK straps with natural sun fading and chemically bleached fading. The eventual shade reached is quite close between them. With the Bleached Art set a little more white than the naturallly faded Pz/PzJg straps. Also notice the fading on the underside of the tongues contrast.
Am sure the Art straps were folded over tightly and dipped into the bleaching agent or even likely still attached to the tunic ? Notice the difference in sun/bleach fading better on the top and lower deck on the tongues. & those dark areas (creases) where the tongue joins the strap on the underside show the original olive color before being chemically bleached.

More photos are on these threads...

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=917173

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=977533

[RGD51]

I just acquired 2 bakelite containers of Losantin at my local militaria shop yesterday. Both are filled with the powder, I havent experimented on any scrap twill to see if it still has any potency. Losantin went by a consumer moniker of chlorkalk in a non military application....simply put— bleach powder, hypochloride. It may have a limited shelf life, I dont know.

Robt.

[BenVK]

The Losantin tablets are crushed to powder, water is added to make a paste which is smeared over the cap.... that is the bleaching agent and why it creates a hard line fade.... not the sun.

A paste would definitely leave a hard line but can't see how it would bleach that well without leaving streaks and blotches. Plus it seems like a lot of trouble to go to compared with just soaking the garment in the bleaching solution.

[RGD51]

There was no ‘solution’ like chlorox to soak hats in, that would have created a totally different appearance on these caps as well as rotting the fabric inside and out. Some of the twills were very colorfast and only got a mottled appearance, others like Franky and Halfar coughed up there color quickly. The bleach paste stayed on top of the fabric as opposed to penetrating so the inside red only lightened a bit to a pinkish color. As dirty as the desert was you can imagine that these hats probably got washed plenty and accounts for why so few survived along with other uniform items. Sand, sun, soap, urine, soda, gasoline and losantin all contributed to the wearing out process.

Robt.

[BenVK]

I'm curious how you know they used a paste, where did you hear that?

[RGD51]

Ben, its been written about in DAK reference books. Its pretty common knowledge among collectors in the context of how the new soldiers could effect the look of a seasoned campaigner by bleaching out their field caps to bone white using the losantin tabs in their anti gas kits.

Robt.

[BenVK]

Ah right, thanks, I knew about the anti gas tablets but not about making a paste.

[90th Light]

Some of the twills were very colorfast and only got a mottled appearance, others like Franky and Halfar coughed up there color quickly.

As dirty as the desert was you can imagine that these hats probably got washed plent and accounts for why so few survived along with other uniform items. Sand, sun, soap, urine, soda, gasoline and losantin all contributed to the wearing out process.

Robt.

In my experience, Halfar caps made from German twill fade quickly but the examples made from "Sage-green" French twill hold their colour the longest and do not seem to bleach out to the whitish shade, so highly valued by collectors today.

More than one North African New Zealand veteran told me that they freshened their uniforms by rubbing with sand due to a total lack of any possible water to wash clothes in,

Chris

[RGD51]

Would confirm that as there are pix of the soldiers doing nothing more than grinding sand into uni’s to clean. I think the George Forty books on the DAK had those pix, a nice 2 vol set that used to be available in hard and soft cover. Can still be found on ebay sometimes.

Robt.