Jump to content

Wimbledon Crusher Cap?


Ant1942
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone, I just bought a 8th AF grouping that belonged to a Gordon Leroy Lee who was a navigator in the 390th BG. besides some information that came with the grouping including a tailor made ike, it also came with his crusher cap that I presume is English made. Can anyone tell me or direct me to a maker called Wimbledon. The crusher is roughly a 7 to a 7 1/8th, and is a pretty neat one to add to the collection, but I have never heard of the company that made this personally. While its may be hard to read I know it says Wimbledon "Flight" All Wool Comfort Cap. Any help would be greatly appreciated in finding out any info about how rare the maker is, how common that hat brand was in England etc. Plus if anyone else has one that's like this i'd love to see. Also shout out to pararaftanr2 for the ANB h-1 headset, looks excellent on the head mannequin and thanks again for digging a pair out that you could part with!

 

 

post-178778-0-70494000-1555121794.jpg

post-178778-0-66206600-1555121799.jpg

post-178778-0-97431500-1555121806.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great looking cap

 

The ones I have say made in England etc.I have a couple enlisted visors marked as made there one is to a GLider pilot who was a Segeant

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the compliment doyler, I’m quite fond of it too, definitely semi crushable. I’m thinking it’s English because Lee was in the 390th BG from 43-45 as a navigator. Never heard of the crusher company and it looks English made but again I don’t really know

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the english made officers caps have a more light OD or tan center braid.Im not sure this was a common trait with all or not.

 

I have a small 390th Group with A2 from a B17 pilot that was an evader.He got out of Switzerland after being shot dow.Have a A2 to another 390th pilot.Both were same Squadron (568th)

 

Have enlisted gunners POW group as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been studying and collecting crushers and US Army Officer visors for many years, While this is a nice cap, it is definitely not English made, it is a US made cap. Wimbledon brand, was one of a multitude of brand ‘soft’ US Army Officer visors that were produced during the war in the states. Bancroft, Knox, Dobbs, and Society brands were the most known because they produced the largest quantities, but there were many more brands out there which produced lesser quantities, Wimbledon being one of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been studying and collecting crushers and US Army Officer visors for many years, While this is a nice cap, it is definitely not English made, it is a US made cap. Wimbledon brand, was one of a multitude of brand ‘soft’ US Army Officer visors that were produced during the war in the states. Bancroft, Knox, Dobbs, and Society brands were the most known because they produced the largest quantities, but there were many more brands out there which produced lesser quantities, Wimbledon being one of them.

Thank you so much for the insight, do you have a link where I can see the visor brands? Also are wimbledon's desirable on the collections scale for "soft" crusher style caps? Im genuinely interested in hearing whatever insight you can provide about wimbledon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some of the english made officers caps have a more light OD or tan center braid.Im not sure this was a common trait with all or not.

 

I have a small 390th Group with A2 from a B17 pilot that was an evader.He got out of Switzerland after being shot dow.Have a A2 to another 390th pilot.Both were same Squadron (568th)

 

Have enlisted gunners POW group as well.

I'd love to see that stuff doyler, I always had an interest in the Air Corps stuff but recently I decided to dive into collecting it. I am mainly a armor and PTO army nut but I have a healthy respect for what the guys up in the sky did (sometimes it gets overshadowed by the ground war though)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd love to see that stuff doyler, I always had an interest in the Air Corps stuff but recently I decided to dive into collecting it. I am mainly a armor and PTO army nut but I have a healthy respect for what the guys up in the sky did (sometimes it gets overshadowed by the ground war though)

 

 

Agree.Same for Italy/MTO units.Often over looked and forgotten

 

Here is an old post on one Jacket.Its a bit rough but it survived

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/96722-a2-jacket-568th-bs390th-bg/?hl=lobo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for the insight, do you have a link where I can see the visor brands? Also are wimbledon's desirable on the collections scale for "soft" crusher style caps? Im genuinely interested in hearing whatever insight you can provide about wimbledon.

 

I don't think the site "crushercap.com" exists anymore. English made caps are labeled as such and are often made with different materials that make them stand out. I'd agree yours is US made by a smaller cap maker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I don't think the site "crushercap.com" exists anymore. English made caps are labeled as such and are often made with different materials that make them stand out. I'd agree yours is US made by a smaller cap maker.

Thanks for the insight into this, I really wasn't expecting to find out lots about it but I definitely have a better knowledge of the cap now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh nice a J Collett is definitely a nice find and one i've heard of. I saw one for sale a year back but didn't get it, definitely should have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...