Pair LW Blue HBT Overseas Hats Questions

[airborne_steve]

Hi everyone,

I have a pair of LW Blue, HBT, OS hats. Both hats have had their eagles removed (there is HBT backing that remains?). I have the eagles and the rest that came with the hats.

The hats are slightly dirty with faint oil stains.

Both hats have the same makers but with slightly differn't color twill lining. The HBT is slightly more corse on the hat that is closest.

Please give your opinions.

Also, are these hats rare? or of any value?

Respectfully Steve

[airborne_steve]

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[airborne_steve]

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[airborne_steve]

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[airborne_steve]

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[airborne_steve]

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[Jos L C]

Hello Steve ,

Extraordinary caps..
I've no clue what it means to have just a piece of cloth in the shape of a eagle sewn on.
A couple of years ago I had the chance to buy a couple of these from a guy in Holland.
I never saw the caps ,we spoke by telephone and he just mentioned these and told me how they looked...,he also had some tan and wool done this way ,if I remember well..

I'm very curious for what reason this is done...

I have the eagles and the rest that came with the hats.

Do you just have some eagles or do you mean you got the original eagles that came from the caps ?

It looks that the pieces of HBT cloth are sewn with the same thread ?
Is there any damage underneath ?
Is it sewn through the liner ?

What do you mean with " the rest that came with the hats " ?

The caps are nice though ,but rather strange..

Jos.

[J Melvin]

Steve, what I think you have are the early overseas caps for the mechanic's sets. I've got the exact same cap as the one that you show the interior of (same interior, size and maker). It came with blue HBT mechanic's coveralls. If that is the case, the cap certainly did not originally come with a cockade. Mine does not even have the eagle. If you can, show the insignia that came with them.

They aren't very common. I bought the coveralls simply to get the cap.

[Gene]

Can you tell us where you got them? The material where the eagles and cockades were looks very odd and that maker stamp isn't what I'm used to seeing.

[airborne_steve]

Hi guys,

The eagles that I have are wool. However I think the original may have been HBT the cockades are also the regular type not of HBT. It is very weird to see the HBT backing cloth to the eagle because it is machined to the hat and there is no damage below. I'm not sure how the eagles were applied? I have had these hats for quite a long time (1984) these hats are certainly not repros, but are unusual at any rate.

Does anyone have HBT cap eagles to compare?

Steve

[airborne_steve]

P.S. The insignia stitching does not go through the lining.

Also do you think I should reapply the insignia? I noticed that the eagle's wool backing is almost black in color?

Steve

[Jos L C]

Steve, can you post the eagles ( just to look at )..?

Concerning the caps...
If they were mine and there wasn't damage underneath the patches..
I would put a eagle on them..

I'm still puzzled why this was done just with pieces of cloth..,can't think of anything and can't imagine they were ever worn like this..

Maybe it's camouflage..

I'd like caps like this with a eagle ,not with a piece of cloth.. ,unless someone comes and says it was worn by a secret division etc..

For me this are just HBT caps with pieces of cloth added...

BUT the strange thing is that the cloth parts are machine stiched and don't go through the lining ,if I understood right ?

So ,mysterious at least IMO...

It's breaking my head..,it still makes no sense to me...

Anyone else...?

Jos.

[airborne_steve]

Hi Jos,

I'll take a few more detailed pictures of the lining and of the HBT cloth. The HBT backing cloth is weird. It looks as if there was an eagle that was cut off around the edges, just leaving the HBT? I'll look around for the insignia, I have it hidden some where in my house.

Accually I had forgotton about these hats all together until three days ago when I was un-packing some of my collection and found them at the bottom of the box. I felt like I had uncovered king tut's tombe.

Steve

[SgtB]

very interesting!

Any chance that these were for wear by new recruits?

[wolfje]

Steve,<O</O


I’ve seen this type of caps before. I think the insignia were printed on the cloth. Maybe late war production.<O</O
<O</O

Regards,<O</O

<O</O
Ed.