Original Item. Only One Available. For sale is a very rough but characteristic example of an exceedingly rare piece of WWI headgear, a Feldmütze with a cockade for the German state of Bavaria. It is constructed of gray/green Feldgrau (Field Gray) wool with a red wool cap band and red piping along with an interior canvas lining. These are some of the most heavily reproduced caps of the war, and to find an original in any condition with a clear depot stamp is quite a rarity in itself.

This M1907 Feldmütze has a great 1917-dated depot stamp reading B.A.II. 1917 which indicates the II Armee-Korps (Stettin). There is also a faint size stamp, 58. There is also a single J stamp, which could indicate J - Instandsetzungsamt - repair depot. This feldmütze has some heavy mothing across the wool exterior as shown, but does not take away from the overall beauty of the cap. The top cockade on the mütze is the Black, White and Red Reichskokarde (Imperial Cockade) the top of this cockade being bent back slightly as shown. The bottom and slightly larger cockade is that for the German state of Bavaria. The cockades are both in fair shape, but they do show wear and have paint loss, as shown.

A very character-full service worn example of a rare field cap, ready for display.

The 25 peacetime corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardized organization. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:

V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)
II, XIII, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment
I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)
the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades).

Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more:

Foot Artillery Regiment
Jäger Battalion
Pioneer Battalion
Train Battalion

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 30th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 7th Cavalry Division and the 39th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XV Corps mobilised with 26 infantry battalions, 10 machine gun companies (60 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

At the outbreak of World War I, the Corps was assigned to the 7th Army on the left of the forces that executed the Schlieffen Plan. It fought on the Western Front in Lorraine. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 19th Army, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg on the Western Front.