Description
Product Description: This rare tropical Heer Officer M40 field cap is an incredible piece. This is an almost impossible to find, service used tropical officer cap, that was produced by the firm of Karl Kubach. The exterior of this cap is constructed of olive colored ribbed cotton twill, that is clean, with a slight patina. The crown and front scallop feature integral metallic silver piping indicating an officer rank. The front of the cap has a complete and original set of Bevo machine woven insignia, which has been factory applied in the exact fashion of other Kubach made examples. The national eagle and swastika emblem has been machine straight stitched across the top, with the insignia then being flipped over and the lower portions finished by hand sewing. The national colors rosette is machine straight stitched. This cap is textbook in all regards, with two olive colored enameled grommet vents per side. Inside, this officer M40 field cap has a full red cotton liner and an internal sweatband. The sweatband is made of a tan colored ribbed fabric with traces of waterproof coating. The cap is well marked with a block stamp in black ink. The marking includes the size “59,” an “F 42” depot stamp indicating acceptance in Frankfurt in 1942, and Karl Kubach maker information. This cap shows only honest light wear, with no holes or repairs to the fabric. It would be extremely challenging to upgrade this fine and desirable cap.
Historical Description: Even before the outbreak of WWII, the designers of German military equipment had begun tests to engineer uniform items for wear in tropical climates. In 1940, with the German invasion of North Africa imminent, the German military quickly instituted a wide variety of tropical uniform and equipment items. Tropical uniforms were used in Africa, as well as other parts of the “Southern Front” including Italy and the Mediterranean, the Baltics, and southern Russia. The soft headgear used in the tropics took various forms. There was a tropical version of the M34 “overseas”-type cap, which lacked a visor, but the cap which came to be most widely associated with the Afrikakorps was the billed M40 type field cap, which was based on the cap issued to German Army mountain troops. The German Army M40 tropical cap was made of a lightweight fabric, in shades that ranged from tan, to brown, to olive. The interior of this cap was lined with a red fabric, which German engineers believed would help the interior of the cap stay cool. Other branches of the German military, including the Kriegsmarine, utilized this same pattern of cap for their tropical uniforms. Early in the Afrika campaign, some Luftwaffe troops were issued the M40 caps from Army stocks, but by 1941 the Luftwaffe had its own tropical cap, known as the M41. The insignia used on these caps featured the national eagle specific to each military branch, manufactured in special tropical colors, as well as the national cockade. Army caps were additionally adorned with a branch of service soutache, over the cockade, though this was deleted and ordered to be removed in 1942.
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