Original German WWII HJ Flak Helper M43 Feldmütze Field Cap in size 58 – dated 1944 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great looking German WWII H J National Youth Organization M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap), marked with Size 58 and dated 1944. These were the standard headgear for H J members who were attached to the Luftwaffe as auxiliaries, and who manned anti-aircraft Flak cannons in the defense of the Third Reich as the war drew to a close. It is constructed of Luftwaffe bluish gray worsted wool gabardine cloth, with fold-down panels with rounded 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 a single pebbled aluminum button. The visor is reinforced with cardboard, and covered in matching gabardine cloth.

Sewn in place in the front of the cap is the rhomboid diamond shaped HJ emblem, which consists of a black mobile swas inside a white square diamond which is surrounded by alternating white and red quadrants and is all surrounded by a small white border. This patch is original to the cap and is machine sewn only to the outer fabric. The patch is in very clean crisp condition with minor mothing.

The interior of the cap is lined with gray rayon, which is sweat stained around the contact areas but is in very good condition overall. There is a solid RBNr. stamp on the crown, which looks to read 0 / 2009 / 0004, and below this is 58, and to the right a faint 44. These are inside a rectangle, the usual way markings are on these caps, and there is the number 640 above. The visor is still quite well shaped, with just a bit of bending to the stiffener, and no real cracks.

Overall, this is a great looking wartime used HJ M43 field cap!

HJ believed German youth to be the future of his 3rd Reich. The HJ National Youth Organization was formed officially in 1935, and with the exception of NSDAP ideology indoctrination was very similar to the Boy Scouts. Beginning at about the age of ten years, both boys (jugend) and girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel) were enlisted in the Party-run organization.

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.