Original Item: Only One available. This is a very nice German WWII SA "Stormtrooper" Kepi (Dienstmütze), made of tan cotton fabric, with a blue felt top. This indicates use by the SA Gruppe Warthe, named for Reichsgau Wartheland. Originally known as Reichsgau Posen, this was a NSDAP German Reichsgau formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent areas. Parts of Warthegau matched the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen. The name was initially derived from the capital city, Posen (Poznań), and later from the main river, Warthe (Warta).

These caps were worn by SA personnel, especially the "Stormtrooper" groups. It is made from heavy tan canvas, with an aluminum Reichsadler (National Eagle) on the front top, above a silver button, which indicated the rank of the wearer. There is a nice dark brown leather chinstrap, held in place by the correct chocolate brown buttons. The interior has an oil cloth crown lining, with a pressed paper fau leather liner, and it is marked with size 55 on the back interior of the cap.

The inside of the cap under the sweatband still bears its original fabric RZM tag, which is also in great shape. The tag identifies the cap as a Dienstmütze (Service Cap) features the RZM logo as well as the ink stamped numerical designation of the Hersteller (manufacturer) A1/17 over lot No. 465103.

Condition of the kepi is good though it does show quite a bit of wear both inside and out. The exterior has moth damage to the blue felt, and there is also staining and some tearing of the canvas. The interior sweat band has a few tears, and the oil cloth grown guard is worn through around the edges.  However, these are hard to find in any condition.

A hard to find SA Stormtrooper Kepi, ready to display!

The Sturmabteilung, literally Storm Detachment, was the NSDAP Party's original paramilitary. It played a significant role in Adolf AH's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for NSDAP rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the Red Front Fighters League (Rotfrontkämpferbund) of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), and intimidating Romani, trade unionists, and, especially, Jews – for instance, during the NSDAP boycott of Jewish businesses.

The SA were also called the "Brownshirts" (Braunhemden) from the color of their uniform shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's blackshirts. The SA developed pseudo-military titles for its members, with ranks that were later adopted by several other NSDAP Party groups, chief amongst them the Schutzstaffel (SS), which originated as a branch of the SA before being separated. Brown-colored shirts were chosen as the SA uniform because a large number of them were cheaply available after World War I, having originally been ordered during the war for colonial troops posted to Germany's former African colonies.

The SA became disempowered after Adolf AH ordered the "blood purge" of 1934. This event became known as the Night of the Long Knives (die Nacht der langen Messer). The SA continued to exist, but was effectively superseded by the SS, although it was not formally dissolved until after NSDAP Germany's final capitulation to the Allies in 1945.