Germany, Heer. An Afrikakorps Panzer Troops M41 Tropical Field Cap, by Carl Halfar

(Heer Afrikakorps Tropenfeldmütze M41 für Mannschaften der Panzertruppe). A well-preserved and field-worn Heer Afrikakorps Panzer Troops M41 tropical field cap, constructed of khaki-tan cotton cloth with a subtle ribbing. It is fully surrounded by decorative fold-down side panels with frontal scalloping, and flanked on each side by dual ventilation holes reinforced with zink eyelets. Stitched onto the peak of the cap is an insignia consisting of a light brown cotton/rayon blended base overlaid by a machine-embroidered silver-grey Wehrmacht eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, measuring 70 mm (w) x 30 mm (h) overall. Directly below the eagle is an additional insignia in the form of a light brown cotton/rayon blended diamond, overlaid by a machine-embroidered tri-colour cockade, measuring 34 mm (w) x 34 mm (h) overall. The cockade is surrounded by an original rose-pink woven soutache. Both the eagle and the cockade show period original zig-zag stitching, indicating that the cap has remained untouched since wartime. Completing the exterior features is a protruding card stock-reinforced visor, fully lined in identical cotton cloth. The interior is encompassed by a multi-piece red cotton liner, with the crown bearing the faint remnants of a stamped maker’s mark for the firm of Carl Halfar, Berlin, with a size of “58”. The cap measures approximately 19 cm (w) x 26.5 cm (l) x 12 cm (h). Issues consistent with age and field wear are evident, and include characteristic sun bleaching of the exterior material which has resulted in fading throughout, with minor fatigue also visible to the soutache, softening and bending of the visor core consistent with moisture exposure, and some fatigue and soiling to the interior liner (the former including a small tear to the seam near the forehead). A superb example worn by an Afrikakorps Panzer serviceman with unmistakable characteristics of field use, this cap remains in a very fine condition.