gdlasalle

One more thing. I love the "used" touch to the chinstrap end, on outside of the snap. My caps are 65 year old and none of them are standing out like that.

Ok, I will. This cap is a high end fake. It's high end but not executed well. If the maker had put on an original wreath it might have fooled more people. Then the maker should have aged it a little. Rubbed some of that knap off the top. Aged the sweatband with dirt or something. The peak looks good, but the underside does not. It's nearly good but like most fakes has bad elements.

Should I go on?

The chinstrap. I'm not suprised it glows. Why it glows, I don't know why. But, it looks bad and another example of poor manufacture. Bad that it is curling out too. The straps I have on my caps are lovely things. You cannot see the untreated material at the edges, because it's all been stained.

Just looking at the full front photo. It may be due to the photograph itself but it is evident that the thread on the wreath is washed out, not as golden and deep hued as the eagle. I think this is due to the difference in thread. The wreath looks to be embroidered from ordinary cotton thread.

Mark, this cap is not original. It may have some elements that are original, the eagle for instance. The wreath is sloppy, the thread doesn't even look correct. The uneveness of the wreath, if original, would certainly have consigned it to the reject bin. The sweatband is new, as in new new, maybe recently sewn in. The clear band also it very new looking. An original would certainly have some clouding, some toning. I don't like the look of the wool top, it is at least of a poor manufacture. The underside of the peak gives off a bad sheen. It looks plastic to me, though this could be the photo. All these elements conspire to at least give pause. In my opinion the wreath and the sweatband, at the very least, put this cap into the questionable catagory. I understand you are returning the cap. You should. Get an original that does not have so many red flags.

Thanks Gordon, a great tip and excellent product. I've ordered the first three editions. thanks! Mark

Well thanks Vic...that was very helpfull.

Hey Vic, what cap did you get? Was it the one on regimentals? Also, what did you mean the boardjacket was part of a group? You mean there were other items from Kuhn? regards, Mark

Congradulations Paul, a really great jacket! It's awesome Michel also has this man's white topped cap, boardjacket, compliment of badges, medals and photos. Shame to see the group broken up.

Hello, I wanted to get some expert opinions about the tropical jacket attributed to Fritz Wohlleben U48 on www.ww-2militaria.com. As far as I can tell U48 operated in the North Atlantic, so why would this man have a tropical jacket? I see it is one of the few U-boat related items not sold in this latest update. Of course I know anything is possible, maybe he was supposed to go to the med or something...or did, just wondering. thanks!

Great find! The seller of the photoalbum on Ebay made a big point of saying he had the awards documents, but warned "to not even ask if they were for sale." He also said some of the photos were missing. Then I saw the docs and "loose" photos were for sale on WAF. Congrats on your documents, they're great. I just don't understand why someone would break up a U-boat man's photoalbum and documents. To make a little more money? Seems to me the items belong together and are woth more together. And this isn't sour grapes on my part...I couldn't afford the album.

[attachmentid=50789] Hello Monsun, I may be wrong but I think the man pictured is Dommes. Here's a photo of him.

Thanks for the reply Gordon. I guess my dream of finding Gunther Prien's "backup" cap is alive and well. I'd like to respond to Darrell's quiery about removable tops. While Gordon is right about switching blue for white tops, Darrell also had it right that the white tops were removed for washing...hense the metal, removable, eagle. Sometimes a tag with the owners name was sewn on the inside of the top to match it to the body after cleaning. I have also seen white tops with the sewn eagle worn by U-Boat commanders.

I wonder why Vogler wasn't wearing his hat when his boat went down.