Original German WWII Army Heer Transport and Supply Troops EM/NCO Schirmmütze Visor Crush Cap – size 55 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This cap is a very good example of a German WWII Wehrmacht Heer Army EM/NCO Schirmmütze (visor cap), with a lovely “Crushed” shape. This “saddle-form” shape is highly desirable, and accomplished by removing the crown support stiffener ring. It features the typical feldgrau (field gray) “doeskin” wool construction with a flaschengrün (dark bottle-green) “badge cloth” band and a traditional high forward crown. The cap also has matching Hellblau (Light blue) piping along the top edge and flanking either side of the band, the Corps Color (Waffenfarbe) for Transportation troops (Fahrtruppen) until 1942 and Supply troops (Nachschubtruppen) from 1942 onwards.

The piping has faded a bit towards purple, and does look a bit like the grau-blau (gray blue) used by Sonderführer Specialist Leaders, who were civilians with military rank, however all examples we have seen are in the officer configuration. They also tended to use a charcoal gray cap band, not the bottle green this example has. The piping under the crown is still the original light blue color.

It is decorated with a well detailed zinc alloy eagle insignia on the peak and and an open zinc alloy wreath surrounding an attached metal tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia look great, having lost the original silver wash and now displaying a lovely oxidized zinc patina. The red felt insert in the cockade is still present and vibrant. The dual-buckled black leather chinstrap, designating the wearer to be an enlisted man, is attached to black lacquered buttons on either side. The finish has degraded a bit, with a lovely pattern of checking and crazing in the patent leather finish, which can “melt” over time, as this example has.

The vulcanfibre visor has a smooth black leather-look upper, exhibiting light wear along the edge and is checkered brown on the underside. The top of the visor has a lovely pattern of crazing and checking, showing that it has not been refinished at any time. It is however a bit loose, so the stitching holding it in place has stretched out over time.

The cap is lined with lovely olive brown twill fabric, which could be brushed cotton or more likely a cotton rayon blend. It shows some light staining from use on the top, but shows no major damage. The top plastic sweat shield is mostly intact, as is the stitching, and it is embossed with a logo reading Deutsche Wert Arbeit (German Workmanship), which was originally most likely highlighted with silver, now almost completely gone. There is a size 55 size tag in the name slot on the sweat shield. The sweatband is made from pressed paper faux leather, and unfortunately is quite torn towards the front, where the majority of the wear usually happens. The left side has the metal initials H O installed, most likely for the name of the owner.

The cap looks to have seen light service during the war, and shows some wear on the bottom edge as well as on the edge of the crown. There is not any really moth damage we can see, just some light overall staining The cap also overall has had the colors fade a bit, possibly from being on display for a long period of time.

A lovely example of the classic hat worn by German Army Transport and Supply Troop NCOs in WWII. Ready to display!

The German Schirmmütze Visor Cap:
The visor cap (Schirmmütze) was an important part of the headgear worn by German uniformed military, civil, paramilitary and political organizations during the Third Reich. This was the standard cloth headgear worn as a part of the service uniform. Visor caps were worn outdoors as well as indoors, and were often required to be worn by all personnel on duty. Visor caps were made in versions specific to each organization and were often further differentiated through the use of insignia, colored piping, or style of chin cord, to indicate rank, role or branch. The insignia used on these caps ranged from simple stamped metal emblems, to elaborate hand embroidery. Visor caps were issued to enlisted soldiers and NCOs in the military and in some other organizations. Officers had to purchase their own hats, and lower ranks could choose to purchase caps that were of a higher quality than the rather basic, issued examples. The private purchase caps were generally made in very high quality, with fine materials. A wide variety of fabrics were used, from Trikot and doeskin, to heavy wool, or even lightweight white fabric for summer wear. In the military, issue of these caps was generally suspended shortly after the outbreak of the war, but they continued to be worn by some troops until the end of the war.