Original Item; Only One Available. We are pleased to offer a RARE size 56 WWII Organisation Todt (Org. Todt or OT) M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap) for only the third time. It is constructed of olive green wool gabardine cloth, with fold-down panels with squared 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 gabardine cloth, with green underneath.
The cap features a BeVo-style machine embroidered Organization Todt trapezoid Reichsadler (National Eagle) affixed to the front of the cap, complete with the Tri-color cockade. Stitching and the trapezoid, as well as the rest of the cap is as near to perfect as can be desired, and the flaps retain their rayon loops on the underside. The painted buttons that attach the scalloped flaps show just a bit of wear. No moth damage present, and the forehead leather sweatband shows only light wear, and is marked with QUALITÄTS MARKE.
The rayon/silk liner is in excellent condition and is stamped on the top with:
Org. Todt
Wiesbaden
56
We were not able to find any maker marks, so we assume this was a standard issue example made under contract, and processed through the depot in Wiesbaden in Western Germany.
Overall, this is a great looking M43 Org. Todt field cap, one of the very few that we have ever had! It has seen only light use, and would make a great part of any collection.
The Organisation Todt (OT) was a civil and military engineering organization in NSDAP Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior NSDAP. The OT was not given an official name until AH did so soon after coming to power during 1933. During 1938 Todt initiated the Organisation Todt proper as a consortium of the administrative offices, which Todt had personally established in the course of the Autobahn project, private companies as subcontractors and the primary source of technical engineering expertise, and the Labour Service as the source of manpower. He was appointed by AH as plenipotentiary for labour for the second four-year plan, decreasing Göring's role. Investment in civil engineering work was reduced greatly. The organization was responsible for a huge range of engineering projects both in NSDAP Germany and in occupied territories from France to the Soviet Union during World War II. It became notorious for using forced labor.
From 1943 until 1945 during the late phase of the Third Reich, OT administered all constructions of prison camps to supply forced labor to industry. Fritz Todt's primary office was that of the General Inspector of German Roadways (Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen) and his primary responsibility, the construction of the Autobahn network. He was able to draw on "conscripted" (i.e. compulsory) labour, from within Germany, through the Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst, RAD).
Fritz Todt died in an airplane crash on 8 February 1942, soon after a meeting with AH in East Prussia. Todt had become convinced that the war on the eastern front could not be won and thought himself independent enough to say as much to AH. As a result, there has been some speculation that Todt's death was a covert assassination, but this has never been substantiated.
More on the M43 Field Cap:
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.
