Spanish Civil War Era Field cap . Help needed to identify

[Rob truscott]

Hi Everyone . Wondered what anyone may know about the origin of this cap . It was im told brought back by an International Brigade veteran , but i cant say if its Republic or Fascist ? Or truly of that time . Its nicely made with maker marks on the ornate sweatband . The pink trim may have faded from red . The body is black of course .

[ASR]

Hello,

It is indeed a Spanish Civil War vintage Falange Española forage cap. So on the nationalist side.
Though not really scarce, yours is very nice looking and obviously privately purchased.

In theory they were replced by a red beret (the one later used by the Spanish Blue Division) in mid 1937.
In practice, they clung till even after the war.

The trim was red, it is very common that the dye fades to pink.

They were used by the Falage militias along with the blue shirt, specially during the first two years of the war.

[Rob truscott]

Thankyou . I found out it was falange , i suppose i should have realised by its black colour! On the Republican side there must have been far more variations and they must be very rare compared with Francoist items. though its hard to find anything here in UK ! Its a neglected theme in general . perhaps the lack of material doesnt help collecting

[ASR]

Hello,

By no means Republican is more varied than Nationalist considering forage caps. They are somewhat scarce and command high prices, specially embroidered officer's items.

yet nationalist is much more varied: Political (Carlist and Falange), Regular units with different branch pipings, Gendarmerie units (like Carabineros or Guarcia Civil), Navy (very rare for forage caps, including naval Infantry) and the much sought after white personnel serving in colonial troops (the most beautiful examples but extremely scarce considering they were prone to use arabic type headgear on active service).

Just as an example I?ll post some Falange variations I just picked at random from my collection.

[ASR]

TOP LEFT:

Two variations.
Top: Spanish Foreign Legion type of piping, probably a shock unit. Embroidered yoke and arrows on fabric, then sewn onto the cap.
Below: Standard dark blue, with the high, pointed cut of mid-thirties / early war caps (compare it with the more rounded appearance of most caps, typical wartime manufacture)

TOP RIGHT:
Two cadre caps.
Top: Good quality taylor made cap. No rank pinned onto the cap. Original pin with yoke and arrows.
Below: Cut following the 1926 regulations which reintroduced the tasselled cap for officers and NCOs. Note the piping looking upwards and the front side being higher that the lower one, as per the aforementioned regulations. Embroidered rank on cloth, then applied on the hat (typical expenditure).

BELOW LEFT:
Top:Nanking blue with silver piping: Pre war and front-line service during the early stages of the war. The silver piping for all ranks was soon discontinued, passing to the more common red piping or white, same as the police units.
Below: Felt with red thread simulating piping, same quality of manufature than your example.

[TabsTabs1964]

First of all I want to say that I found this forum thread by chance while following the excellent thread "A small collection of Spanish / Falange items" by JMM in which I discovered that the relatives of Aldo's wife live in Asturias, the region neighbor to mine, which is Galicia (the northwest corner of Spain)
This is important because in the photo inside the Falange Field Cap you can read a word "Aturuxo"
You will never find it in a Spanish dictionary. Because it is not a Spanish word. It's a Galician word, which is the dialect of my region: Galicia.
It is a very, very typical word of my language and that nobody who was not from this region of Spain would wear it in his cap.
This makes me seriously consider that this Falangist cap belonged to one of the thousands of Galician Falangists of the National Army.
It is also important to explain the meaning of this Galician word. An "Aturuxo" is a sharp and very prolonged cry from the folklore of Galicia.
If there is something similar that our colleagues in the United States can understand, it is the "rebel yell" of the Confederate soldiers during their Civil War.
In summary, perhaps its owner was a Galician Falangist from one of the "Banderas" of Falange of the Army Corps of Galicia "
It is an excellent collector's item. Congratulations.