Original German WWII Luftwaffe M43 Wool Field Cap with Cockade Button in size 55 – dated 1944 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fine example of a Luftwaffe M43 Einheitsmütze field cap with a rare single cockade button. It is a very nice late war example, and the blue interior lining is ink stamped with size 55, as well as Rb.Nr 0/0925/2338 and date 1944.

German RBN Numbers, or Reichsbetriebsnummer, also known as the National Business Number, were an alternative to the 3 letter codes in use late in the war. The first number 0 is the prefix for “industry”, while 0925 is the location code, and manufacturer 2338 in is a specific maker. The records of these are very incomplete, so we have not been able to locate this specific manufacturer.

The cap is constructed of fine blue/grey Luftwaffe wool and has no damage or moth that we can see. The visor is still in good condition with some bends in the stiffener. There is a a very nice heavily machine embroidered cap eagle. Interior of cap in a blue/grey rayon style material. This example is offered in very good to excellent condition. 

The M43 Einheitsmütze (Unit 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.