field grey fez question

[D Davies]

I was wandering if anyone can help with a question i have concerning field grey fez's. Was it ever a common practice that the wearer removed the sweatband.
I'm sure i recall a thread about this subject.
Cheers
Dave.

[gbr-trooper]

Hi Dave...I think that this would happen to many of the combat fez that were worn, due to the irritation the leather sweatband would cause in hot weather....I have seen a few field grey fez with the sweatband removed, think one sold on eBay germany last week with the sweatband and tassle removed.

[D Davies]

Hi Dave...I think that this would happen to many of the combat fez that were worn, due to the irritation the leather sweatband would cause in hot weather....I have seen a few field grey fez with the sweatband removed, think one sold on eBay germany last week with the sweatband and tassle removed.

Thanks for the info being a irritation makes sense. I'm just wandering if my fez has seen use or is it just storage wear.
Cheers
Dave.

[D Davies]

.

[gbr-trooper]

Dave...from the pics you have supplied it looks like storage wear as I would expect some wear to the front and discolourisation by weathering etc, it also looks like the tassle has become free of the retaining loops at the rear. The tassle was sewn down to stop it "flapping about" and getting in the way of prayer, the sweatband has been removed not sure as to why as cannot see much wear, but might have had minimal use.

I have a red fez which as been worn and shows what wear would be seen on such an item and still has the leather sweatband.

All the best
Stephan

[D Davies]

Thanks Stephan
I was expecting to be told storage ware i guess i was hoping it had been used.
Even so it still a nice piece.
Thanks again for your assistance and welcome to the forum.
Cheers
Dave.

[rbno]

Gentlemen, I think I must be missing something. If the troops could not tolerate the leather sweat band in a fez, how could they possibly wear a stahlhelm with its full leather liner?

Al

[V.I.D.]

Gentlemen, I think I must be missing something. If the troops could not tolerate the leather sweat band in a fez, how could they possibly wear a stahlhelm with its full leather liner?

Al

Excellent point. While it can get very hot in Bosnia during summer, it is certainly no warmer than most of Greece or North Africa. I do not see the point of removal of a sweatband from the regular fez.

I would dare venture that an absolute overwhelming majority of Handschar fezzes available nowadays were never worn by the actual troops, and in fact, never got issued. Many of the original ~ 20,000 soldiers died, more than 2,000-3,000 deserted to Partisans in the Fall of 1944, several thousand were subsequently dishonorably discharged from division or re-employed again as Hiwis, only to leave some 5,000 Bosnians and equal number of ethnic Germans in division to fight remaining battles against incoming Soviets in Srem, Hungary, and Austria. The remnant of this battlegroup (rather than division by December 1944 already) surrendered to British but most were returned to Tito's Partisans and promptly executed. Having a Handschar fez in Tito's Yugoslavia would surmount to a long prison sentence, at the very best. Thus it is HIGHLY unlikely that any of our fezzes were ever actually worn by those intended. The only ones that stand any chance in my opinion are those maroon ones from the initial batch taken from French colonial supplies in 1943.

As for the seemingly large number available from Dachau storage, I believe that most were meant for division Kama which never fully materialized due to war fortunes and quick changes on the Balkan front in late 1944. I can think of only 2-3 field gray fezzes shown on this forum or dealers' sites over past 10 years that seem legitimately worn by the actual Handschar troops.

[sutka]

hi D
i have one whit out the bend to
so it is something to it
mark

[FESTUNGBREST]

sweatbands

One can fantasize or justify any excuses to remove sweatbands in the battlefield of their mind.
A Fez without a band remains a Fez without a band, and opens the door to the opportunity of a forgery...For those who would like like to go down that corridor there is no hand holding...So please...

[FESTUNGBREST]

Fez

F

[D Davies]

Thanks everyone for your contribution. It's clear mine has just suffered from storage ware.
Cheers
Dave