Hitler Youth M43 Cap

[RonR]

For your review....


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[RonR]

23

[RonR]

45

[RonR]

67

[RonR]

89

[RonR]

1011

[OSS]

Lovely example!

[Lenny W]

Nice Ron

[Tony]

Sweet looking cap !

[Gebirgsjgr]

I have a lot of interest in this style of cap (though I hesitate to use the term M43), I have little-to-no knowledge of HJ or other non-military items, so I have some questions.

First - This cap is very cool. It looks to me to be great shape. What date would these start to be worn?

The RBN stamp would indicate to me that this would have at least been produced after 1941. Is that correct for RZM items? Does the '43' indicate the year and the '55' indicate the size?

My color perception is never good, but I always perceived the HJ color to almost black. Your photos remind me of a Luftwaffe Blaugrau. Can you explain the color(s) to me?

Did the half sweatband indicate that this was a better (more expensive) model, or was that standard?

And one last thing - were these caps commonly stripped of their insignia after the war so that the kids had something to wear in the winter of 1945-56?

-Matt

[Darin S.]

This is a Flakhelfer cap for the H.J. and appears to be an original in great condition. The normal H.J. Wintermutze was a dark blue, the Flakhelfers wore a uniform that was more a Luftwaffe grey in color.

[Andy C.]

Nice Ron

Love the avatar, Yes one of the best all around HY caps that I have seen.

[Pascal Bernhard]

[RonR]

Thanks to all!

[Mike Swan]

This is a Flakhelfer cap for the H.J. and appears to be an original in great condition. The normal H.J. Wintermutze was a dark blue, the Flakhelfers wore a uniform that was more a Luftwaffe grey in color.

Darin,

Ron's cap is in fact a desirable Flieger-HJ pattern.

Mike