Strange Imperial headgear...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Has anyone an idea what this is?

[Chris Boonzaier]

MA

[Daniel Murphy]

Chris,

It is a common enlisted mans feldmuetze with an added visor and chinstrap. It is an affection of a few enlisted men who were envious of the NCOs visor caps. Totally unauthorized of course, especially since it involved modifications to an issue piece of headgear. I believe this is the first I have seen with a chinstrap though .

Dan

[Chip]

Chris,

It's an official model 1908 enlisted man's issue cap. They had chinstraps by definition. They were primarily issued to train, strecher bearer and medical troops, though I have seen pioneer and infantry examples. See Kraus's "The German Army in the First World War", pages 122-123.

Chip

[JimZ]

Interesting photo Chris.

But now I ask - officially issued or unofficially altered? Curious....

Jim

[Chip]

jim,

I seriously doubt that this kid would go against regulantions and have his cap altered. Maybe a seasoned NCO, who had seen it all and didn't give a crap, but not this kid. It's an official pattern cap.

Chip

[JimZ]

Fair enough Chip! I guess there's charges and court martial for things like that !!

What I did find really interesting and caught my eye (I forgot to mention it!!!!) is how the pockets at the bottom of his tunic seems to be stuffed with erm....some goodies or other. Is that the shape of the tunic or really something that the tunic could not hide??

Jim

[Chip]

They're probably full of letters from mommy.

Chip

[Kev in Deva]

They're probably full of letters from mommy.

Chip

More like a snot-rag err..... handkerchief and Bon-Bons

Kevin in Deva

Edited November 24, 2006 by Kev in Deva