WWII German M40 Pattern Army Tropical Cap
German tropical M40 cap with oilskin sweatband, which the solder wrote his name and rank on the reverse side. No soutache. Dated 1943 and possibly worn in the Italian theater.
WWII German M41 Tropical Tunic and Field Gear
Here is a M41 pattern tropical tunic (marked Frankfurt 1941) with originally applied collar litzen and breast eagle. The Afrika Korps cuff title is original but impossible to determine whether it was period applied. The shoulder boards are for an infantry lieutenant.
The field gear is comprised of:
-Green canvas Y-Straps (1942 dated)
-Tropical Breadbag (1941 dated)
-Green web tropical belt and tropical buckle with green web tab
-Tropical canteen (1941 dated)
-Gas mask canister (1938 dated)
-Two-tone green and tan web tropical bayonet frog
-Bakelite handled K98 bayonet
-Leather K-98 pouches
WWII 401st GIR, 101st Airborne Uniform Group
Here is a WWII uniform from my personal collection. It is not for sale.
This uniform grouping was worn by a PFC in Service Company 401st GIF, 101st Airborne. The vet was a post D-Day replacement and fought in Holland (Operation Market Garden), where he was seriously wounded and spent the next year and a half in hospitals recovering.
His uniform has a three-place ribbon bar an with ETO ribbon w/ two campaign stars, Good Conduct ribbon, and Purple Heart ribbon. The ribbon bar pin is broken and the insignia was sewn to the uniform upside down, causing the ribbons to be in reverse order, but that is how the uniform was received from the vet, so it was left as is.
Included with the group are several V-Mail and regular letters he sent home, a 101st Airborne unit history book and booklet, and recent photos of the vet holding the uniform pieces. His overseas cap has an interesting para/glider patch variant.
WWII 501st PIR, 101st Airborne Ike Jacket
This Ike jacket was worn by a 101st Airborne trooper who served in 504th Bn (later 509th), then the 501st PIR. While with the 501st, he served in Headquarters Company, then got transferred to F Co prior to the Normandy jump. In addition to jumping in Normandy, this soldier jumped in Holland and fought in Bastone and Southern Germany. He received two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
Interesting features on this Ike Jacket include a wool Allied Airborne patch, an English made wool Airborne tab over the 101st patch, English made overseas stripes, and modified Belgian fourragère.
WWII Airborne M42 Reinforced Jump Jacket: Part II
- Members of I Co. 504th prior to the Holland jump. Note the reinforced M42′s being worn.
As a follow up to my research on the recently acquired reinforced M42 jump jacket, a fellow WWII Airborne collector was kind enough to run the partial Army Serial Number (H-0608) through his database of 43,000 WWII 82nd Airborne personnel and locate a perfect match!
The paratrooper was an enlisted man attached to Regimental HQ&HQ Company of the 504th PIR. It is very common for uniforms to trade owners, which explains the removed officer insignia on this jacket.
Ironically, I had the opportunity to handle a documented reinforced jump jacket at the Kansas City militaria show in May, 2007 worn by T4 Clarence W. Harper HQ&HQ/HQ 2nd Battalion 504th PIR. The jacket reinforcements were identical in construction to my modified jacket. In fact, this trooper may have even known T4 Clarence Harper, being they were both HQ of the 504th!
The 504th PIR did a lot of heavy fighting in Italy and returned to England on 04-22-1944. However, their rosters were depleted, so the 504th was not ordered to stand down and not participate in the Normandy jump. A handful of 504th personnel volunteered as Pathfinders and made the Normandy jump. However, this paratrooper was not one of them.
Since the 504th did not jump in Normandy, they were able to hold onto their reinforced M42 jump suits and subsequently used them on the Holland jump. They were the only entire regiment to wear reinforced M42′s in the Netherlands and on the Holland jump. By then, the other regiments were issued and wearing M43 field jackets and trousers. So, although the veteran did not wear this jacket on D-Day, it was more than likely worn on the Holland jump.
Read WWII Airborne M42 Reinforced Jump Jacket: Part III
Read WWII Airborne M42 Reinforced Jump Jacket: Part I
