Original German WWII Army Heer M41 Tornister Backpack / Knapsack – RBNr. Marked Original Items

Original Item. Only One Available. In early 1941, the German military began their conquest of southern Europe. Due to the warmer climates of these areas, the German Army needed to equip its troops with more suitable uniforms and equipment, avoiding the heat retaining wool and moisture sensitive leather. Derived from the Model 1931 used by Mountain troops, the M41 Tornister (Knapsack) Backpack or Rucksack also completely replaced the Tornister 39 in tropical zones. Later in the war it became the standard pattern used by all parts of the Wehrmacht.

This is a very good example of the Heer (Army) version of the Tornister M41, in the later war darker olive green color, and there are no permanent shoulder straps on this early pattern type. Some types were designed as a standalone pack, however this type was designed to interface with either shoulder straps or the Y-straps and A-frame, with the iconic German quick release attachments at the top and bottom. It is marked on the back with RB.-Nr. 0/0550/0191, a number we have seen on other examples. There are also some markings on the underside of the outer pocket flaps.

Condition is very good, and it only shows signs of light use in the field, though the right side D-ring on the top flap has had the fabric tear through around the leather and canvas base. There is some wrinkling of the finish on the leather fittings, and oxidation on the metal portions, which is a common occurrence over the decades. The various buckles and straps all appear to be functional, and we did not notice any major missing components. All of the pockets are intact.

A great unissued example of a Heer M41 Tornister Backpack, ready to display!

Reichsbetriebsnummer or RB number (also represented as RB Nr or Rbnr). Before the war, the Germans set up a system for registering and recording the factory information, the Reichsbetriebskartei. This was to help enable machine tabulation of facts and figures. It was from this that the Reichsbetriebsnummer came into being. The Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion (Ministry for Armaments and War Production) files survive today in the Bundesarchiv, however, these are only fragmentary. There is a holding file from the working group created by the Office of Machine Reporting in the Armament Office of the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production – their main focus was the operations of the industry group for which an economic interest was Armour production. This index provides information on the most important data of the companies covered by it, production profile, operating area, number of employees and the responsible operator.

As a prerequisite for the intended use of the punch-card method in the armaments industry, it was this system which gave rise to the Rbnr. The operating numbers were assigned by the competent local district offices of Machine reporting. (Bezirksstellen des Maschinellen Berichtswesens.) The index is in the form of index cards that are accessible numerically (approximately 14 meters of index cards!). Access to this register is only possible through the naming of this company, stating the place of production. The Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion files have multiple entries on the introduction of the factory and also the lot no.

The Rbnr code was used from 1943 onwards and replaced the makers name and address (or company logo) on government contract uniforms, caps and field equipment and knives. It is either rubber ink stamped on cloth or die stamped onto leather & metal items. It has been written countless times that this numeric code system was introduced as a security measure to help mask production locations. This was not the case but it was perhaps, a helpful by- product of the system. It is not unknown to find the Rbnr together with the maker’s info. Had it been a security measure, clearly this practise would have been banned.

So what was the Rbnr? It was a nine digit number and was normally represented thus: RB Nr: 0/000/0000.

The first prefix number could range from 0 through to 9. This number determined the membership of the various groups in the realm of Trade and Industry (Reichsgruppenleitzahl)

• 0 Industry
• 1 Crafts
• 2 Commercial wholesale trading companies
• 3 Banking
• 4 Insurance Companies
• 5 Energy (Electrical companies and such)
• 6 Tourism (Including Hotels, Wine and Mineral Water companies)
• 7 Traffic
• 8 Food Industry
• 9 Not otherwise mentioned groups