Soviet Forces

Moscow Parade, 1938 (?), Snipers in Panamas

From Guns.ru -- a photo of a parade on Red square. The "Panama" style hats are what make this so interesting to me -- when I first saw the image, I was thinking more of the KNIL than the USSR! From what the on-line translation tool "had to say," this type of hat was introduced in the the '30's (1935 or 1938), for use in hot climates such as the Caucasus. I've never seen Soviet troops with a hat of this sort -- nor, ecidently, ad several members of the guns.ru forum. If some one with more understanding of the language wants to check to see if what I wrote is an accurate translation, the discussion is here: http://talks.guns.ru/forummessage/36/473328.html