Help with WWII Soviet Cossack Hat

[Hkindiana]

Hello from a new member. I hope someone here can help me identify this hat. It looks like a Cossack hat to me, but I cannot find reference to it. I acquired this from the son a a B-24 ball turret gunner who was shot down in Austria at the end of WWII. The area his plane crashed was in the hands of the Soviet army. He, and his crew traded their flight hats to their Soviet hosts for their hats. Here is a photo of his crew wearing the hats they traded from the Soviets, and you can clearly see this hat on a number of heads. What is it, and does it have any value?

Thank You

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

What a superb piece of history!

The cap is a Kubanka style. The star is a 1936 pattern.

I would rate it around $300 +

Cheers, Ade.

[Woolgar]

A great story ! Looks like they had plenty of Vodka

Nick

[Hkindiana]

Thanks Ade;

You say it is "Kubanka style". Is that standard infantry, or a Cossack hat?

Tom

[Adrian Stevenson]

The Kubanka is a Cossack style of hat. Usually found in black wool. The other taller style in the photos are known as Papakha.

It is a super example you have.

Cheers, Ade.

[Hkindiana]

Do you think there is any significance to the leapard pattern, and it not having a colored top? Is there any way to tell if this is an officers hat, or an enlisted?

Thanks

[Soljenitsyne]

Hello,

The hat n is not Sovietique.

Regards

Marc

[Hkindiana]

Hello,

The hat n is not Sovietique.

Regards

Marc

What do you mean by not Sovietique? I have the photos to prove that it was obtained from the Soviets during WWII. If you don't believe that, please let me know why, and then what you think it might be.

[RichieC]

What do you mean by not Sovietique? I have the photos to prove that it was obtained from the Soviets during WWII. If you don't believe that, please let me know why, and then what you think it might be.

The markings are in Roman letters, not Russian Cyrillic - and are in what seems to be English or French.

Not for nothing, and if I recall correctly, this style of winter cap was very popular with women in the US postwar, and well into the 50s.

The star-cockarde looks nice in any case.

Try making a 1200DPI scan of the photo and crop it, so it would be easier to see if the "leopard" pattern is indeed the type in the photo.

One last thing - You are using IMAGE SHACK to host your photos. Please, re-post all the photos using our in-house image hosting program. The reason for this request is this: After a while, these images will be dropped by Image Shack and so, will disappear from here - rendering this thread totally useless and therefore, on the block for deletion.

[Soljenitsyne]

"Extra Basque" is a French factory of civil caps