Germany, Luftwaffe. An Officer’s Converted Overseas Cap, by Max Berger

(Luftwaffe Fliegermütze). This is an extremely well-preserved Luftwaffe officer’s overseas cap, constructed of dark grey wool. The cap is surrounded by fold-down flaps, tightly held together by triple rows of neat machine stitching, and secured in place by double rows of machine stitching at the front and rear. The flaps are trimmed by twisted and rolled silver aluminum wire, indicating that the cap was previously worn by an EM/NCO and was later converted to officer status. The peak of the cap is adorned with a Luftwaffe-style German national eagle constructed of off-white machine embroidery on a dark grey wool backer, measuring 70 mm (w) x 40 mm (h). Stitched into the cap under the eagle is a machine-embroidered, early-style padded tri-colour cockade measuring 22 mm in diameter. The cap features a complete cotton twill interior liner, stamped on the left with a maker’s mark clearly reading “Max Berger, Görlitz” along with a date of “1940” and a size of “57”. Loose black threads emanating from the maker’s mark indicate that a name tag likely occupied the space, but has since been removed. Stamped on the right of the liner is the name “Mildred Gilbertson” in black ink. The cap measures approximately 295 mm (l) x 110 mm (h) when folded. The cap presents free of evident faults and is in a near mint condition.