Original Item; Only One Available. We are pleased to offer a RARE WWII Organisation Todt (Org. Todt or OT) Officer's M43 Feldmütze (Field Cap) for only the third time. Unlike the other examples we have had, this one was made in Italy using the tan twill used on Italian uniform, which has periodic "stripes" in the weave The interior is also made from the gray HBT rayon we often see used to line Italian uniforms.

This example was purchased directly from the son of a Veteran of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division, who saw extensive service in Northern Italy in the mountains and the Po River Valley. They saw service northwards into southern Slovenia before V-E day, and are definitely a unit that would have fun across a cap such as this.

It has the correct panels with squared scallops to the front and forward sides, though they are stitched in place in the rear and at the corners of the visor, so at present they cannot be folded down. There are also no buttons at the front of the flap, so in this case they are mostly ornamental. The cap is piped with oxidized silver bullion around the entire crown of the cap, and on the front flap scallops. The visor is reinforced with cardboard, and covered in fabric matching the body of the cap.

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. The stitching on the cap is all fully intact, with no rot out or pulling. The liner is in good shape. showing just a bit of staining around the bottom from service.

Overall, this is a great looking Officer's M43 Org. Todt field cap, one of the very few that we have ever had, an the only Italian Made example! 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.