Original World War Two US Army Combined Glider and Paratrooper Garrison Cap featuring an originally applied Patch and Medical Piping.
Size tag fully intact indicating a size 7 1/8!
A circular cloth insignia representing the Airborne (Glider) unit was worn on the garrison cap by active glider units until the Army merged the glider and parachute insignia into one Airborne Insignia, which was then worn by all airborne and glider-borne units.
During WWII, specifically in 1944, the distinct parachutist and glider insignias, featuring blue for infantry or red for artillery, were combined into a single patch on a blue background with a red circle. This change reflected the evolution of the term "Airborne" during the war, which encompassed parachute, glider, and air-landing units, but eventually referred only to parachute units after the war.
As for the Garrison Caps, overseas style caps were discarded after WWI, and later revived for Air Corps officers as the "field cap with branch-colored piping”. During the 1920s-1930s, it became authorized for use throughout the Army, with officers' caps adorned with branch-colored braid and enlisted caps without braid, which varied locally. By 1940, garrison caps were widely adopted and referred to as such, with officers officially switching to gold, gold and black, and silver and black braid while enlisted garrison caps retained branch-colored piping.
During WWII, the Quartermaster Corps distributed caps without braid. The colored trim was also distributed separately. Various soldiers, including transfers, would have to sew on the appropriate piping before wearing their caps with trim. This is why occasionally, used untrimmed overseas caps can be found in the collecting market.
Since 1956, the Army Green uniform has caused the disappearance of branch-colored overseas cap piping. However, soldiers could still wear them with their khaki or OD uniforms during the official transition period, specifically on garrison caps.
This Garrison Cap is in excellent condition and hard to upgrade from.
