Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 414:
Description
US Army M1941-Style Olive Drab Herringbone Twill Fatigue Cap, Unmarked, with Six-Panel Crown and Stitched Visor Offered here is a utility field cap in the pattern long associated with the US Army’s Herringbone Twill (HBT) fatigue clothing of the Second World War, cut from olive drab cotton HBT cloth and finished with a short, stiffened visor. No maker’s tag or specification label survives inside this example, so the cap is catalogued as consistent with the wartime pattern rather than as a documented, contract-marked original; the possibility of later vintage commercial or reproduction manufacture cannot be ruled out on the evidence of construction alone. The HBT utility cap traces its lineage to specifications such as 6-326, adopted in the early 1940s to clothe soldiers, airmen, and Marines for fatigue duty, motor-pool work, and hot-weather labor in every theater of the war, from the hedgerows of the ETO to the jungles of the CBI and PTO. Its soft, unstructured six-panel crown was designed to fold flat in a pocket or pack and to be worn comfortably beneath a steel helmet liner when required, while the tightly woven herringbone cotton resisted wear and dried quickly in the field. Produced under contract by numerous manufacturers in enormous quantity, these caps survive today in a wide range of condition, from clearly tagged, datable examples to unmarked pieces like this one, whose precise origin can no longer be fixed with certainty. The crown is built from six shaped herringbone-twill panels converging at a central top seam, with the diagonal weave clearly visible across the fabric. The visor is stiffened with numerous rows of concentric topstitching and has faded to a noticeably lighter tone than the crown, a two-tone contrast consistent with differing fabric roll lots reacting unevenly to sunlight and repeated laundering. Inside, white cotton seam tapes radiate spoke-fashion from the crown’s center to reinforce the seams, finished at the base by a fabric sweatband; the taping shows scattered staining and age-related discoloration consistent with genuine wear. The cap presents in good vintage condition overall, with general wash wear, soft creasing throughout the crown, and honest fading, most pronounced along the visor. No maker or specification stamp is legible on the interior, and none should be assumed present. A characterful example of the classic HBT fatigue cap silhouette, offered for its wearable, display-ready condition and its evocation of wartime GI workwear rather than as a documented contract piece.
Share this lot:
