Heer Officer Overseas Cap

Product Description: This Heer Officer Overseas Cap is a really evocative piece, with outstanding character. It shows heavy wear from daily field use. The body of the cap is made from a doeskin wool material with a fine nap, in a light dove gray color. The flat wire officer’s cap eagle and bullion cockade are hand stitched, and appear to have perhaps been restitched at some point in the life of the cap. The woven aluminum wire soutache around the top edge of the cap shows heavy wear with fraying and some losses. The front of the cap once had an inverted “V” of branch piping soutache, which has been removed to comply with regulations of June 1942. Inside, this Heer officer overseas cap shows strong traces of wear, with soiling in the forehead area that extends to the cap’s exterior. The interior is textbook, with a rayon lining and partial leather sweatband. There is no marking, as is typical with these tailor made pieces. There are no moth holes or other damage beyond that caused by lots of wear in a wartime environment. This cap has a salty, “field” look and would be perfect for a combat display. The condition rates as very good.

Historical Description: The “side cap” was a part of the uniform worn by nearly all military, paramilitary, political and civil organizations in the Third Reich. It was a narrow hat that could be folded flat and tucked into a belt or haversack. This was, at the time, a very stylish type of uniform cap; in the German Army, it replaced the round “pork pie” style of field cap used in the Great War. The German name for this cap, in most organizations, was “Feldmütze”- field cap. Despite the name, it was often worn as a daily service cap by postal workers and other personnel who would never be deployed to the field.  The men and women who wore the side cap gave it the nickname “Schiffchen,” meaning little boat, due to its shape. The side caps were made in the same type of fabric as the uniforms, in the uniform color particular to each organization. The side caps were adorned with branch-specific insignia, usually bearing some form of the German eagle and swastika national emblem. Many side caps also bore red, white, and black national cockades. The insignia were usually embroidered or woven, but metal devices were used on some caps as well. Officer caps generally were distinguished by silver braid along the top edge and/or on the upper part of the flap at the front of the cap and were often custom tailored from fine fabrics. The German military, and many other organizations, had broadly replaced the side cap with a new, more practical cap featuring a brim, by 1943. But the side cap continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.

We are the leading team of military antique specialists. We have specialized in military antiques for over 25 years.

Epic Artifacts offers free evaluations and the highest prices available for your collectibles.

We purchase single items, entire collections, or family estates.

Click the link here to learn more: Free Evaluation or Inquiries 

or feel free to email us directly: info@epicartifacts.com