Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 439:
Description
WWII German Luftwaffe Silver-Piped Fliegermuetze Overseas Cap by Bero-Leina, Breslau, Dated 1/42, Size 56, with an Unmounted Pair of White-Waffenfarbe Gefreiter Collar Tabs. Offered here is a dated, maker-marked Luftwaffe overseas cap, or Fliegermuetze, together with an unmounted pair of white-wool collar tabs bearing the twin metal gulls of a Gefreiter. The Fliegermuetze was adopted by the Luftwaffe before the outbreak of war and remained a standard item of field and walking-out dress for pilots, aircrew, ground personnel, and paratroopers throughout the conflict. The aluminum-toned cord piping edging the scalloped front flap is a pattern generally associated with officer or officer-candidate grades, distinguishing this cap from the plainer enlisted version. Its embroidered eagle-and-swastika device, mounted above a bullion-style tricolor national cockade in silver-white and red, is worked to a standard consistent with wartime issue. The white Waffenfarbe of the accompanying collar tabs denotes ground or guard formations, and each tab carries two textured metal gulls denoting the junior enlisted rank of Gefreiter, insignia that would have been stitched to the collar points of a service tunic. The cap’s twill sweatband preserves a purple ink manufacturer’s stamp reading Bero-Leina, Breslau, together with the date code 1/42, firmly placing manufacture in January 1942, a period when Luftwaffe units were committed across the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean. A separate stamped size marking, 56, appears alongside a further faint impression on the lining that is not securely legible from the photographs. The cap is of dark blue-grey Luftwaffe wool showing light nap wear and scattered surface lint consistent with honest age and storage; the embroidered eagle and cockade remain firmly attached with no losses to the stitching. The twill interior lining carries light, even age toning, with the maker and size stamps remaining clear. The unmounted pair of collar tabs presents bright, clean wool with both zinc gulls intact and securely fixed, showing only minor toning and no bends or corrosion. A well-marked, dated Luftwaffe Fliegermuetze paired with matching ground-branch Gefreiter tabs, its Bero-Leina stamp and January 1942 date code anchoring the grouping firmly within the early-war Luftwaffe. White Waffenfarbe in the Luftwaffe was associated with Hermann Goering Division / Regiment personnel
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