Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Heer (Army) Artillery officer M38 Schiffchen overseas cap in excellent condition, sized 58 1/2. It is constructed from field gray Feldgrau wool and features silver officer piping, an early style embroidered Heer eagle, hand embroidered bullion national cockade, and a deep red Hochrot soutache identifying the Artillery branch. The cap remains exceptionally well preserved, with strong color, clean insignia, solid stitching, and very little age or service wear.

The M38 overseas cap was widely worn throughout the Heer and was commonly known by the German nickname Schiffchen, meaning “little ship,” because of its folded boat-like profile. Officer examples are distinguished by silver piping around the crown seam and along the upper edge of the front scallop, both of which are present on this cap.

The exterior is made from fine field gray wool with the correct officer silver piping. The front carries an early pattern BeVo-style machine embroidered Heer eagle worked in silver thread on a dark bottle green Flaschengrün backing. The insignia remains in excellent condition with very little visible wear.

Below the eagle is a V-shaped rayon soutache in Hochrot, or deep red, the branch color associated with Artillery and related branches. On this officer cap, the red soutache identifies Artillery. The lower construction stitching does not pass over the soutache, indicating that it was applied after the main cap assembly rather than incorporated into the original seam construction.

Centered within the soutache is a finely hand embroidered bullion national tricolor cockade. The bullion remains bright and well preserved, complementing the silver officer piping and eagle.

The interior is lined in brown brushed canvas and fitted with a tan leather forehead sweatband. The sweatband is marked:

QUALITÄTS MARKE

The interior is also stamped in gray with the size:

58 1/2

The sweatband remains soft and pliable with only very light staining.

Overall condition is excellent. The exterior and interior colors remain bright and unfaded, and the insignia show only minimal wear. The silver officer piping is free from significant fraying or tears, and the stitching throughout the cap remains strong and intact. The wool shell shows very little age related wear, giving this example an unusually clean and well preserved appearance.

With its size 58 1/2 marking, field gray wool construction, silver officer piping, early embroidered Heer eagle, hand embroidered bullion cockade, and deep red Artillery soutache, this is a particularly attractive example of a Heer officer M38 overseas cap. The very light sweatband staining and post-assembly application of the soutache are fully disclosed. It would display especially well in a Heer Artillery, officer headgear, M38 Schiffchen, German WWII uniform, or advanced military headgear collection.

Side Cap
A side cap is a military cap that can be folded flat when not being worn. It is also known as a garrison cap or flight cap in the United States, wedge cap in Canada, or field service cap in the United Kingdom. In form the side cap is comparable to the glengarry, a folding version of the Scottish military bonnet. It has been associated with various military forces since the middle of the 19th century, as well as various civilian organizations.