DOA Südwest Hat

I thought I would share another colonial piece today with a bit of a character to it. This was purchased online a few years ago with some skepticism. Since it arrived it is (amongst) my favorite pieces in my collection.

This guy is super salty and as close to falling apart as I care to go with collecting. The felt body is a bit of moth eaten. The inner leather sweat band has been sewed in three times. The cockade is well worn, and the outer white band has been replaced at some point.

The vents and rivets are all original with their trademark tear drop holes and star stamp markings. The vent can be buttoned into place or let to drop freely to protect from the sun. The liner is pressed with the maker logo F. Bambus & Co. Of Berlin. There is also a KA stamp but it is too faint to make out the year.

The outer white band is a bit strange. It is made from cotton and mismatches the silk officers hat band in the center. One can only guess why it was replaced.

The majority of these slouch hats on the market today are post war for home wear. They lack the center cockade and tear drop rivet vents. This is the only one I have seen for sale that I can confidently say has seen some action. In addition the white for German East Africa is considerably more rare than the blue seen in DWSA.

Cheers!
Jay
 

Attachments

  • 00874200-9548-44FB-A95D-F1100DE3A3C6.jpeg
    00874200-9548-44FB-A95D-F1100DE3A3C6.jpeg
    3 MB · Views: 54
  • 706FE777-62DE-4A7E-8966-8BF952F0832B.jpeg
    706FE777-62DE-4A7E-8966-8BF952F0832B.jpeg
    2.4 MB · Views: 52
  • 4E33C8BB-A112-47CD-B3A4-5BF1CC3225E1.jpeg
    4E33C8BB-A112-47CD-B3A4-5BF1CC3225E1.jpeg
    5 MB · Views: 52
  • E3EBAE03-DFD0-4596-8D11-0A13049666BF.jpeg
    E3EBAE03-DFD0-4596-8D11-0A13049666BF.jpeg
    3.8 MB · Views: 53
  • 7BE9D0D3-39C9-4D88-AD03-2484A8C5378C.jpeg
    7BE9D0D3-39C9-4D88-AD03-2484A8C5378C.jpeg
    4.4 MB · Views: 56
  • FE2C142E-93E6-4225-91D2-2A0BCE4C97B3.jpeg
    FE2C142E-93E6-4225-91D2-2A0BCE4C97B3.jpeg
    4.9 MB · Views: 53
  • 9AEE91FA-5B7C-443C-9EA3-83D8A528BE86.jpeg
    9AEE91FA-5B7C-443C-9EA3-83D8A528BE86.jpeg
    5.4 MB · Views: 54
I'm a cloth headgear guy, so this one floats my proverbial boat. Terrific piece and, as you say, very rare to find the field version of these things. Thanks for sharing!

~Jeff
 
Sorry . Inadvertently hit the Post Reply button.

to finish my thought.... It doesn't get better than that in this area of collecting.

Great information re. sorting out the post war/repro versions out there.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Very nice! I have never seen close up photos of a real original one before. Thanks for sharing this piece from your collection.
 
Excellent piece. Wonder what officer wore it. The story of the East African campaign, that lasted the entire war, is fascinating. So much different than the European fronts.
 
Id love to own one but I have limited knowledge. Im a fan of Southeast and Southwest African Schutztruppen
 
Back
Top