Vitals

Bob Crane as Robert E. Hogan, resourceful U.S. Army Air Forces Colonel

“Stalag Luft 13” near Hammelburg, Germany, Winter 1945

Series: Hogan’s Heroes
Created by: Bernard Fein & Albert S. Ruddy
Costume Design: Reeder P. Boss, Ray Harp, and Marjorie Wahl

Background

Hogan’s Heroes debuted sixty years ago today on September 17, 1965 with a black-and-white pilot episode, followed by 167 episodes in full color. Debuting twenty years after the end of World War II, the series twisted the typical POW formula as 1) a comedy in which 2) the Allied characters showed no actual desire to escape from their imprisonment. As the titular Colonel Robert E. Hogan (Bob Crane) explains to one of his “heroes” in the first-season finale, “we’re not just ordinary POWs, we’re here on a mission. Our orders are very plain: assist Allied prisoners to escape, and sabotage the enemy wherever possible.”

CBS had concerns about marketing a wartime comedy, but creators Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy (who would later produce The Godfather) persisted. The gamble paid off, as Hogan’s Heroes enjoyed generally high ratings across its six-season run, including a dozen Emmy Award nominations—with both of its wins for Werner Klemperer’s performance as the camp’s blustering commandant, Colonel Klink, who runs the camp with his even more inept first sergeant Hans “I know nothing!” Schultz (John Banner). Crane also received two Emmy nominations.

Best known as a radio personality at the time, Crane was cast as Colonel Hogan on the basis of his easygoing “guy next door” personality demonstrated during guest appearances on contemporary sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Donna Reed Show—an ironic contrast to his real-life proclivities as dramatized in Paul Schrader’s 2002 biopic Auto Focus.

As a full Colonel in the U.S. Army Air Forces, Hogan was the ranking Allied officer in this fictionalized version of Stalag XIII, tasked with leading his group of international “heroes”, primarily the French chef-turned-corporal Louis LeBeau (Robert Clary, who had survived a Nazi concentration camp in real life), the cheeky RAF non-com Peter Newkirk (Richard Dawson), and fellow Americans T/Sgt. Andrew Carter (Larry Hovis) and S/Sgt. James “Kinch” Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon). The group used the camp as their headquarters, from which they harassed and sabotaged the Nazis while conducting Allied espionage and escape efforts through their secret network of underground tunnels.

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What’d He Wear?

The Peaked “Crusher Cap”

U.S. Army officers had been wearing peaked service caps since the start of the 20th century, though it wasn’t until World War II that these were styled with wool serge covers in the brown-leaning “olive drab shade 51” to match their service uniforms. The crown sat above a stiff braided mohair band, secured at the sides with brass crested buttons that anchored a russet-brown leather chin strap which matched the visor. Pinned prominently to the front was the brass Great Seal of the United States: an American bald eagle bearing a shield on its chest, clutching an olive branch in its right talon and a bundle of arrows in its left,with an “E PLURIBUS UNUM” banner in its beak, and a constellation of 13 stars above its head.

To accommodate the pressure of flight headsets, Army aviators often removed the caps’ internal frames and stiffeners, softening the crown. These modified “crusher caps” quickly became synonymous with USAAF pilots, earning the nickname “50-mission crushers” as their sagging, sweat-stained crowns suggested the look of a veteran flier who had improbably survived dozens of sorties. The nickname stuck and soon became a badge of honor, to the extent that contractors like the Bancroft Cap Company began producing factory-made versions with pre-crushed crowns to capture the look.

Users commenting at the RPF boards about reconstructing Hogan’s uniform have theorized that Bob Crane wore an officer’s cap made by Featherweight, modified to resemble a true crusher.

The Flight Jacket

At first glance, Hogan’s dark seal-brown leather jacket looks like the iconic A-2 flight jacket worn by airmen from Jimmy Doolittle to Jimmy Stewart. However, subtle differences distinguish Crane’s screen-worn jacket from the actual A-2 that was issued to Army air crews through the 1930s and early years of World War II—such as the difference in leather shell quality, the auburn satin-finished lining as opposed to mil-spec plain-woven cotton, and the lack of snaps fastening the collar to the body of the jacket.

The jacket otherwise resembles the A-2, with its straight-zip front, shoulder epaulets, ribbed wool-knitted cuffs and hem, and patch pockets covered with pointed flaps that each close through a concealed snap.

The shoulder epaulets are painted with the silver eagles indicating Hogan’s rank as a full Colonel (O-6). A russet-brown leather name patch over the jacket’s left breast features his name and rank in gilt lettering: “COL. R.E. HOGAN”. The USAAF’s “Hap Arnold Wings” branch insignia is painted onto the upper left sleeve. Designed by James T. Rawls, this consists of a white five-pointed star with a red dot in the center and gold wings rising from it à la Winston Churchill’s famous “V for Victory” sign, all against a blue-filled circle.

A Heritage Auctions listing for Crane’s screen-worn jacket mentions the internal bias label from Western Costume, stamped with “2093-1 Bob Crane”, as well as the fact that it was first worn by Frank Sinatra in the 1965 war adventure Von Ryan’s Express before it was rebadged for Hogan. Greg Kinnear also reportedly wore the same jacket for his performance as Crane in Auto Focus.

The jacket sold in 2015 to the Liberty Aviation Museum in Port Clinton, Ohio, where it has remained on display alongside Colonel Klink’s uniform and other Hogan’s Heroes memorabilia for a decade.

Interestingly, Crane does appear to have worn a genuine—or at least more accurately detailed copy—A-2 flight jacket in the black-and-white pilot episode, “The Informer” (Episode 1.01), as evident by the visible snaps under the collar, though he keeps these undone.

The Khaki Shirt

Hogan wears the khaki shirt and brown trousers that would have been issued with the Army’s “pinks and greens” service uniform. The shade and pocket flap details varied across the series’ run, but Hogan’s shirts always followed the pattern of a true World War II-era officer’s service shirt, with a convertible semi-spread collar and satin-lined neckband, button-up front placket with a concealed snap just below the top button, shoulder epaulets, two-button cuffs, and two box-pleated chest pockets covered with single-button flaps—initially scalloped flaps until more accurate flaps with mitred corners were used.

His collar devices include a silver eagle rank insignia pinned to the right side and, on the left, the mixed-metal “prop and wings” insignia issued as branch insignia to the U.S. Army’s aerial warfare services from 1918 through 1947. The latter consists of two vertical silver propeller blades, bisected by gold wings. Pinned above Hogan’s left pocket is the silver Command Pilot Badge, the senior-most of the USAAF’s three aviator badge grades. All badges featured outstretched wings extending from both sides of a thirteen-striped shield, while Senior Pilots also had a five-pointed star surmounted on the shield; a laurel wreath encircling the star denoted a Command Pilot.

On certain occasions calling for advanced decorum, Hogan supplements his regular attire with a khaki cotton tie, resembling the cotton-and-mohair twill M1941 ties issued to U.S. Army officers during World War II.

At least one of Crane’s screen-worn shirts auctioned from the production was made by the uniform provider Elbeco.

Service Trousers and Shoes

Made from olive drab (shade 51) wool serge, Hogan’s service uniform trousers have a flat front and long rise to Crane’s natural waist. Consistent with World War II service uniform regulations, the trousers have plain-hemmed bottoms, side pockets, a “slit” front pocket set-in below the right side of the belt line, and two back pockets that each close through a single-button pointed flap.

The trouser belt loops reduce in width over the course of the series, but Hogan always wears an olive-drab web belt that closes through a brass-finished box-framed buckle.

Hogan wears the standard low-quarter russet-brown leather cap-toe derby shoes authorized with service uniforms during the early years of World War II, built on a “composition sole” with rubber heels on leather soles (Type I) or improved with rubber half-sole taps (Type II) before the introduction of the roughout-upper Type IIIs in 1943. His socks are plain black.

The Wristwatch

Hogan typically wears a gold-plated watch with a beige “pie pan”-style dial on a gold-plated expanding band. I haven’t seen any episodes where it’s featured close enough to identify it, though it’s clearly not one of the black-dialed A-11 field watches made by the likes of Bulova, Elgin, and Waltham which were issued to U.S. Army personnel during World War II. (Nor it is the Lesry 17-jewel watch seen on Kinch’s wrist in a close-up during the fourth-season episode “Bad Day in Berlin”, misidentified by a Redditor as Hogan’s watch.)

In addition to these pieces of his uniform worn in camp, Hogan often sports disguises such as German uniforms across several branches, a trench coat over a suit and tie while undercover on a mission, or covert all-black night ops gear when it was time to remind Klink that the real brains of Stalag 13 didn’t wear a monocle.

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The Guns

The POWs have access to plenty more weaponry than you’d expect from, well, POWs. The sidearm most frequently fielded by Hogan and his heroes is the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer. This was one of two semi-automatic pistols introduced by Colt in 1903, distinguished by its external hammer and its resemblance to a downscaled 1911-style pistol. The short recoil-operated Model 1903 Pocket Hammer feeds from seven-round box magazines of the now-generally obsolete .38 ACP ammunition.

Initially popular in its early years, production slowed during World War I, and the Model 1903 Pocket Hammer failed to regain the sales momentum of contemporary Colt pistols before production ended in 1927.

The other pistol that Colt introduced that year is the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless, an entirely different design than the aforementioned Model 1903 Pocket Hammer, though both were designed by John M. Browning. The blowback-operated Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless was named for the back of the slide extended over the back of the hammer, creating a smooth shroud for a smoother draw from one’s pocket. Continuously produced through 1945, the Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless was manufactured in both .32 ACP and .380 ACP variants—feeding from eight- and seven-round magazines, respectively.

A real-life favorite of World War II commandos and spies for its reliability and easily concealed size, the Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless also appeared on Hogan’s Heroes, occasionally in the hands of Hogan himself!

Finally, our heroes occasionally use the full-size M1911 service pistol that was also a Colt-produced Browning design at the start of the 20th century. This venerated short-recoil semi-automatic pistol was first authorized for U.S. military usage in 1912, with mil-spec models firing the powerful .45 ACP ammunition fed from seven-round magazines.

Though not one of the Americans within Hogan’s group, Corporal Newkirk shows a clear preference for the M1911 while his confederates are more satisfied to use whatever sidearm fits their respective mission.

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How to Get the Look

Colonel Hogan’s daily camp attire followed the classic dashing profile of the USAAF pilot, established by his partially zipped-up flight jacket, open-neck khaki service shirt, and peaked “crusher cap”.

• Brown leather A2-style flight jacket with large shirt-style collar, straight front zip, fixed shoulder epaulets, two patch pockets with covered-snap pointed flaps, and ribbed-knit cuffs and hem
• Khaki cotton long-sleeved service shirt with convertible semi-spread collar, button-up front placket with top snap closure, shoulder epaulets, two box-pleated chest pockets with single-button flaps, and two-button cuffs
• Dark olive-brown wool serge flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, right-front slit pocket, set-in back pockets with single-button flaps, and plain-hemmed bottoms
• Olive-drab cotton web belt with brass-finished box-frame buckle
• Russet-brown leather cap-toe derby shoes with rubber-heeled leather soles
• Black socks
• Dark olive-brown wool serge soft-crowned officer’s peaked “50-mission crusher” service cap with brass U.S. badge, woven mohair band, and russet leather chin-strap and visor
• Gold-plated wristwatch with beige “pie pan” dial on gold expanding band

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series. Dis-missed!

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The Quote

My instinct tells me there’s something rotten in Germany. Besides Hitler.