Luftwaffe Overseas Cap

Product Description: This Luftwaffe Overseas Cap is a nice, representative example, with appealing character. This is a cap that was definitely issued and worn. It’s a factory made, enlisted issue piece. The body of the cap is made out of a typical Luftwaffe blue-gray wool fabric, in an attractive light shade. Wear and handling have worn down the surface nap, which is typical for issued uniform pieces. There are no moth holes or other damage. The front of the cap is adorned with a Luftwaffe flying eagle and swastika emblem, and national colors cockade. Both are machine embroidered, and hand stitched to the cap. The inside of this Luftwaffe Overseas Cap is lined with gray-tan fabric that is likely a rayon blend. There are no visible manufacturer markings. There is some soiling inside and out, from being worn. This “been there” cap would be great for a combat display. The condition rates as excellent.

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.

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