BACKGROUND: The Officer’s M38 overseas field cap was originally introduced on December 6^TH 1938 as a replacement for the old pattern visored field cap that had been introduced in March 1934. The design of the Officer’s M38 overseas cap was based on the M34 overseas cap as worn by EM/NCO’s. Originally the M38 was only produced in field-grey until March 27^TH 1940 when a black panzer version for Panzer officers was introduced. Officers and certain senior NCO ranks were responsible for purchasing their own caps and as a result were allotted a clothing allowance through the army’s Kleiderkasse, (Clothing Account), system. The Officers and certain senior NCO’s could choose to purchase their caps from the armed forces clothing depots or to privately purchase visor caps of higher quality. Company and Field grade Officer’s M38 overseas caps were piped with bright silver aluminum braid while Officer’s with Generals ranks utilized bright gilt braid piping. The German army originally adopted a slightly modified version of the NSDAP’s, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party) national eagle by order on February 17^TH 1934, with instructions to have it applied to all steel helmets, visor caps, and tunics by May 1^ST 1934. Regulations followed on October 30^TH 1935 that stipulated the national eagle was also to be applied to all field caps. On March 14^TH 1933 the Weimar Reichswehr era oval black, red and gold cockade was replaced with a circular cockade in black, white, and red and was utilized through-out the Third Reich period. The different branches of service within the army were allocated a specific, identifying, waffenfarbe color with lemon yellow being chosen for Nachrichten, (Signals), personnel. Originally the Officer’s M38 overseas caps, were outfitted with an identifying branch of service soutache until regulations of July 10^TH 1942 abolished the use of the soutache and instructed it to be removed from the caps, although the directive was not strictly adhered to.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Nice quality, M38 pattern, slightly mottled, field-grey doeskin construction cap cap features fold down side and back panels with scalloped slopes to the forward side panels. The crown edge and the forward scalloped side panels are piped in bright, interwoven, silver/aluminum braiding. The cap has a field-grey, enamel painted, alloy, ventilation grommet to each side positioned just below the crown edges. The grommets retain all of their original field-grey paint. The front center of the cap has a machine woven, national eagle with outstretched wings, clutching a wreathed, canted swastika in it’s talons, in matte grey rayon threads on a cut-out, woven, field-grey rayon base. The front center of the fold down panels has a machine woven, national tri-color cockade in black, white and red rayon threads on a diamond shaped, woven field-grey rayon base. Both the eagle and cockade are machine stitched to the cap. The cockade is flanked by a lemon yellow, silk waffenfarbe soutache in an inverted "V" pattern. The soutache is applied in the proper manner running through slashes at the seam near the caps bottom edge and machine stitched in place. The interior of the cap is fully lined in ribbed brownish/grey rayon and is well marked with a faint, black, size inkstamp that appears to be, "59 1/2". The cap is in overall good condition with light age and usage toning, some light nap wear and a couple of pinhead sized moth nips.

GRADE ***1/4                             PRICE $775.00