Description
Product Description: This Heer General M38 Overseas Cap is a very nice, near mint example. The exterior of the cap is made of fine feldgrau doeskin wool that retains strong original color without major signs of age. Only minimal moth tracking to be seen, no holes present. The upper edging is piped in gold braid piping, without damage. The front of the cap has a gold flatwire style Heer eagle, which is applied to the cap using zig-zag machine sewing in yellow-gold thread. A bullion cockade is period hand sewn to the front of the cap. Two grommet vents can be seen on both sides of the cap, and retain all of their original paint. Inside, this Heer General M38 Overseas Cap is lined with a very fine grey-green cotton twill with light patina from use. The forehead area has a partial leather sweatband that is complete with evidence of light wear and minor scuffs as well. This Heer General M38 Overseas Cap is a very attractive cap that displays well and would be difficult to upgrade.
Historical Description: The “sidecap” 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 sidecap gave it the nickname “Schiffchen,” meaning little boat, due to its shape. The sidecaps were made in the same type of fabric as the uniforms, in the uniform color particular to each organization. The sidecaps were adorned with branch-specific insignia, usually bearing some form of the German eagle and swastika national emblem. Many sidecaps 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 sidecap with a new, more practical cap featuring a brim, by 1943. But the sidecap continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.
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