Hitler Youth Uniforms: Headwear--Campaign Caps


Figure 1.--The DJ boys here, probably brothers, wear the dark campaign caps. They were plain caps without decoration. The boys havenot put the diamond HJ pins on them.

This cap style has many different names. I am not sure how it was called in Germany. It is a military style, In America it is referred to as a garrison cap, forage cap, flight cap or overseas cap. It is essentially the same as the Scottish Glengarry. It is a soft, foldable cap with straight sides and a creased or cut in crown that spreads out when put on the head. The same style was worn by the German Wehrmacht and the U.S. Army during World War II. We have noted different colored HJ campaign caps. Some seem to black or very dark. There were also khaki caps, perhaps with red or other colored piping. There may have been several colors. I'm notvsureif there was any significance to the cap colors. The campaign cap was often worn with the Hitler Youth pin emblem at the front. I'm not sure when the cap was introduced, we think about 1936.

Terminology

This cap style has many different names. I am not sure how it was called in Germany. It is a military style, In America it is referred to as a garrison cap, forage cap, flight cap or overseas cap. It is essentially the same as the Scottish Glengarry. It is a soft, foldable cap with straight sides and a creased or cut in crown that spreads out when put on the head.

Usage

We see examples in the photograsphic record of the boys wearing these caps. The great bulk of the photographs we have found, however, show the boys without their caps. This is unusual as the other major uniform items (shirt, scarfe, and black shorts) were almost always worn regardless of the activity. They do not seem to have worn them very commonly. We see countless images of the boys without their caps. We are not sure why that was. The caps had no practical value. There was not peak for shade on a sunny day. We are not sure if the boys did not like the caps are just could not be bothered with wearing them. Pehaps they were let off during activities. We asre not sure if there were any actual regulations about this. The potographic record shows very clearly that the boys very often did not wear their caps.

Style Popularity

The same style was worn by the German Wehrmacht and the U.S. Army during World War II. And it was adopted by the Amercan Boy Scouts--virtually the only national cout groups to do so. It was worn as the official Scout cap for 40 years. Perhaps the association with the HJ was why it was not more commonly adopted. Interestingly, it was adopted by Pioneer groups.

Colors

We have noted different colored HJ campaign caps. Some seem to black or a very dark brown. There were also khaki caps, perhaps with red or other colored piping. We have not yet noted piping on the dark caps. There may have been several colors. We have seen color photos of the khaki-colored caps, but not of the dark caps. They seem to be dark blue or black. This means they would have matched the jackets the boys wore in cold weather. We are not sure if there was any significance to the different cap colors. The dark caps my have been DJ cap, but we are just not sure at this point. Nor do we know if they varied chronoogically.

Pin Emblem

The campaign cap was often worn with the Hitler Youth pin emblem at the front. Not all bys woretheir pins on their caps, but many did. It seems to be mostly the younger boys without the HJ pins on their caps.

Chronology

I'm not sure when the cap was introduced, we think about 1936.

Seasonality

These caps seem to have been the seasonal summer caps. The boys had a kind of ski cap that they wore in cold weather.







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Created: 11:02 AM 6/30/2007
Last updated: 1:23 AM 6/30/2009