Heer Officers Feldmütze

[Gordon Williamson]

This one arrived today. It was sold as an Artillery Officers Field Cap. Something about the shade of colour of the soutache made me take a chance on it, and thankfully, it turned out I was correct.

The cap isn't in fact for an Artillery Officer, but much, much rarer - for a Feldgendarmerie Officer.

[Gordon Williamson]

The orangey shade of the Soutache isn't the faded red (Hochrot) of Artillery, but the orange red (Orangerot) of Feldgendarmerie (or Recruiting of course).

Check out the colour compared with an Artillery shoulder strap

[Gordon Williamson]

Compare also the red in the centre of the cockade with the colour of the Soutache.

Now of course the Soutache material might fade at a different rate to the material in the centre of the cockade, but the real clue is in the extreme ends of the Soutache, sewn into the cap material on the inside of the flap, where they are protected and remain unfaded. Definitely Orange and not the Hochrot of Artillery.

[Gordon Williamson]

Interior is unmarked and with the typical partial leather sweatband.

[bob wirtz]

Very nice piece, Gordon. That is the condition that I like to collect. It shows some wear but not beat all to Hell. Do you have a tunic to go with it?

Bob

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Bob,

No, I don't have the space to display uniforms so I've never really collected them. I would make an exception for a nice Fg tunic though if I could find one.

(I'm working on gathering material for a future book on the Feldgendarmerie - picked up plenty of collar tabs, shoulder straps, cuffbands etc but haven't seen a decent tunic yet)

[nesredep]

The orangey shade of the Soutache isn't the faded red (Hochrot) of Artillery, but the orange red (Orangerot) of Feldgendarmerie (or Recruiting of course).

Check out the colour compared with an Artillery shoulder strap

Hello!

The colour is good Gordon.Amazing find. :jumping:

All the best

Morten.

[bob wirtz]

Gordon,

If you intend on including Waffen-SS in your Feldgendarmerie book, my friend has a really nice SS-Sturmann of Feldgendarmerie tunic from the Totenkopf Division. He is very active in helping authors whenever they need photographic support. He has many items published in Mike Beaver's, Bender's and Armes Militaria. Here is a photo of it from his 2007 Chantilly Show exhibit. This is an M43 tunic with the "SS-Feldgendarmerie" cuffband. It is Ravensbruck-marked.

Bob

Willi Schumacher Collection/Bob Wirtz Photo

Edited December 8, 2009 by bob wirtz

[Gordon Williamson]

Gordon,

If you intend on including Waffen-SS in your Feldgendarmerie book, my friend has a really nice SS-Sturmann of Feldgendarmerie tunic from the Totenkopf Division. He is very active in helping authors whenever they need photographic support. He has many items published in Mike Beaver's, Bender's and Armes Militaria. Here is a photo of it from his 2007 Chantilly Show exhibit. This is an M43 tunic with the "SS-Feldgendarmerie" cuffband. It is Ravensbruck-marked.

Bob

Willi Schumacher Collection/Bob Wirtz Photo

Hi Bob,

Yes, the book will cover Waffen-SS too. In fact all branches, Heer, Luftwaffe, Waffen-SS and Kriegsmarine plus related type organisations like the Feldjäger, Streifendienst etc

I would be delighted to include Willi's very rare tunic in the book. Do you think it would be possible at some time ( no hurry, still a lot of work to do on the project yet) to get photos of it against a plain white background like the attached photo of an Army Feldgendarmerie tunic, with the cuffband clearly seen ?

Best regards

Gordon

[bob wirtz]

I'm sure the next time I go up to visit him I can take that kind of photo for you. Do you want the gorget, belt & buckle and traffic stick too? Or just the tunic alone? I can also turn it to the left slightly so that you can see the cuffband better. That's a long cuffband and it wraps around the sleeve. I'll take a bunch of shots and send them and you can just pick and choose.

Bob

[Gordon Williamson]

Hi Bob,

Preferably the tunic on its own without belt, gorget and traffic wand so that the tunic itself is the main focus of the shot.

Much obliged.

Gordon

[bob wirtz]

Will do early next year. I'm scheduled to go up there and visit him during the first week in January. I have a business trip so I'll see him, but it may not be convenient to photograph at that time. We will be planning our 2010 exhibit schedule!

Bob