Original Item: Only One Available. This is a high quality tailor made earth brown wool/rayon blend RAD Officer Field Uniform tunic with a fine whipcord weave. It features a four button front closure with a chocolate brown lay down collar. Tunic has two pleated breast pockets with straight edged button down flaps and two slanted hip pockets with rounded button down flaps. All of the buttons are maker marked and look to be pebbled non-magnetic aluminum, sewn directly to the fabric. The left waist pocket has the large eyelet near the top for use with a dagger / hewer, and the tunic's reverse features a vertical tail skirt vent.

The interior is fully lined in a gold/tan cotton rayon blend, and the sleeves are lined with black striped white rayon. The lining has a horizontal slash pocket on the left inner chest, however there is no maker marking inside, just some stamped numbers. We can also see that there was a one point a maker label on the inner collar, but it is now completely missing. Condition of the tunic is very good, with only light wear, and no major tears, mothing, or other damage.

The left sleeve has a lovely silver flatwire embroidered RAD shovel logo on a chocolate brown background, which has a red 208 / 1 unit marking. Below this is an early war felt NSDAP armelbinde (armband) with a multipiece rayon swas on a white moire material circle. This has been hand stitched to the arm with red thread along both edges.

The collar is wrapped with chocolate brown wool, and has matching silver wire woven RAD Officer style Kragenspiegel collar tabs, somewhat similar to Heer Litzen, which have a hand embroidered silver bar, referred to as "double filling" on them. The velvet and aluminum type of collar tab was used by ranks Unterfeldmeister (Oberfeldwebel) through Oberstfeldmeister (Hauptmann). The tabs have a forest green velvet plush material background, the branch of service color for "Administrative Services" in the RAD.

The "sew-in" style schulterklappen (shoulder straps) are constructed with a double row of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping with black chevrons woven in, with both rows going around the button hole on the other end. There are no gold rank "pip" devices present, indicating the RAD rank of Feldmeister (Field Master), equivalent to a Heer Army Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant). The bases of the shoulder straps have the same green plush material on them for "Administrative" as well.

There is a very nice German WWII DRL Bronze Grade Sports Badge on the bottom of the left pocket, and also two thread loops above indicating that there was another award, now removed. We also noticed a very interesting gold bullion six pointed star sewn sewn to the uniform by the left side of the collar, which we have not been able to identify. It does not look to be a German award, possibly Spanish or Italian.

A fantastic RAD National Labor Service Feldmeister's uniform tunic, complete with insignia and armband! Ready to add to your collection!

Approximate Measurements:-
Collar to shoulder: 9.5"
Shoulder to sleeve: 25”
Shoulder to shoulder: 16"
Chest width: 19.5”
Waist: 20"
Hip: 23"
Front length: 30"

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service, under the control of Reichsarbeitsführer Konstatin Hierl. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD, and from then onward, men aged between 18 and 25 may have served six months before their military service. During World War II compulsory service also included young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht armed forces.

In April 1934 Hierl had developed a uniform, including the distinctive "Robin Hood" style service cap. The design of the cap was based on a cross between a traditional style peasant cap and the traditional hunters cap. Originally the caps were issued with rank distinction piping with black piping for the EM/NCO ranks of Arbeitsmann to Truppführer, silver piping for company and field grade Officer’s ranks of Obertruppführer to Oberstarbeitsführer and gold piping for General Officer’s ranks of Generalarbeitsführer to Reichsarbeitsführer. In 1940 the use of the black piping for the EM/NCO ranks was discontinued but the silver and gold Officer’s piping remained in use until the end of the war.