Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice lightly worn later war M43 Schutzpolizei (Civic Protection Police) M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap), which is size marked 55. There are also the initials N. G. marked on the inside liner, but we have no way to research what they signify. It is constructed of green / blue feldgrau (Field Gray) worsted wool cloth, with fold-down panels with scallops to the front and forward sides, covering the entire neck on the sides and rear when in use. When not in use, the panels are raised with their ends resting upon the visor, being joined together by two pebbled aluminum buttons. The visor is reinforced with cardboard, and covered in matching cloth.
Sewn in place in the front of the cap is a Civic Police cap hexagon patch, constructed of BeVo style machine woven grey and green embroidered threading in the shape of an embroidered Tri-Color cockade over the Police Civic Eagle. This patch is original to the cap and is machine sewn to the outer fabric only. The patch is in very clean crisp condition. The interior of the cap is lined with gray silk-like rayon fabric, which definitely does show wear and staining
The condition of the cap is very good, though it does show period wear, with some crumpling to the brim. There is also a hole near one of the buttons on the front, which is also stained, and possibly could be from moth damage. There is not any other noticeable damage we can see.
Overall, this is a great looking wartime used M43 Civic Protection Police field cap, ready to display!
The M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap) is a variety of “Ski Cap” and was based on the Bergmütze (Mountain Hat) used by Austrian and German Gebirgsjäger (Mountain Troops) during WWI. Germany had adopted it in 1915, and after the war it spread throughout the military.
The skirt that surrounds the cap is made in the same wool as the cap, and can be folded down over the ears, though this was rarely done outside of the Mountain troops, which had a double-thickness skirt. The skirt has a small dip in the front quarter with a divide secured by one aluminum button which is covered by an embroidered cockade. The small section in the front quarter was built shorter to show the insignia, and cover the wearer’s chin or mouth, without disturbing breathing by covering the nose. There were also later M43 caps, such as those used by the DAK, that omitted the skirt entirely, as it had little use in the desert heat.