Forage cap is the designation given to various types of military undress, fatigue or working headwear. These vary widely in form, according to country or period. The coloured peaked cap worn by the modern British Army for parade and other dress occasions is still officially designated as a forage cap.
History
In the 18th century, forage caps were small cloth caps worn by British cavalrymen when undertaking work duties such as foraging for food for their horses. The term was later applied to undress caps worn by men of all branches and regiments as a substitute for the full dress headdress.
Usage
French Army
During the French Revolutionary Wars, French soldiers made their own forage caps from the cloth of old coats. Known as the , these caps resembled a nightcap and were also worn by Santa Anna's army during the Mexican War. From the 1840s until World War I, French line infantry wore the blue and red kepi, but in 1915, the was reintroduced as a horizon blue garrison cap.
Worn in a khaki version until 1940, the retained the high pointed crown of 1915–1918. During World War II French forces wore a wide variety of headdresses according to supplies available. In 1945 however the was reintroduced for most units but with a lower crown and in the historic colours that had formerly distinguished the kepis of each branch. By the 1940s, the beret was also widely worn by paratroop and mountain units.
German Army
The German army was the first to use the peaked cap, in the final years of the Napoleonic Wars. When the Pickelhaube was introduced in the 1840s, the Germans adopted a new, peakless forage cap, resembling the sailor cap. Prior to 1914 these caps were worn in a wide variety of colours according to regiment or branch, with Prussian blue the most common. However in the early weeks of World War I these were replaced with a slate grey version, with a dark green cap band. After World War I, the German Wehrmacht used a variant of the garrison cap called the Feldmütze, before adopting the Austrian-style ski cap of the Gebirgsjäger.
Greek Army
In Greece forage caps were adopted during the period of the First World War, when most of the weapons and supplies were of French origin. From then until World War II, various changes were made while keeping key features. The Greek Army Regulations of 1938 introduced an improvement concerning the folding part of the cap which protects the ears.
Austro-Hungarian Army, Austrian Army, and Royal Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army adopted a cap in the 19th Century fitted with a peak and cloth chinstraps (or flaps). The chinstraps could be buttoned over the forehead, either securing the folded-up peak or leaving it loose, or could be buttoned under the chin, extending the rear of the cap downwards to protect the ears from the elements. This cap continues in military (Österreichisches Bundesheer), border guard (Österreichs Garde), and police use with the Republic of Austria, although the camouflaged version worn today retains only the peak, not the chinstraps, of its predecessor). After the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Royal Hungarian Army had also continued to issue this type of cap. Variations on this cap were adopted by other armies.
United Kingdom
British Army and Royal Marines
In the British Army, infantry forage caps were first regulated by the War Office in 1811 as a practical head dress that could be worn off duty, in barracks or in camp, in place of the cumbersome shakos and various forms of helmet comprising regimental headdress. Before this date, forage caps were worn as ordered regimentally. Mentioned in sources as early as 1768, these took on various forms, in some instances being made up locally using parts of worn out uniforms. When not in use, forage caps could either be stowed in knapsacks or strapped to the cartouche case. The caps ordered in 1811 were of knitted and felted wool, blue-grey in colour with a white band around the base. Following the end of the Napoleonic wars, forage caps were once again sourced regimentally and took the form of round bonnets in a variety of shapes, frequently made up of cloth in regimental facing colours. In 1829, these regimental forage caps were regulated by order to impose uniformity and then in 1834 replaced by a plain cap of knitted felt wool, known as a Kilmarnock Bonnet (from the place of manufacture in southwest Scotland).