Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII RLB Luftschutz M43 Einheitsmütze field cap dated 1944 and marked with RBNr. 0/0454/0041 and size 57. It is constructed from Luftwaffe blue Fliegerblau, or Flyer’s Blue, wool gabardine and retains its original BeVo style Luftschutz winged insignia, fold down ear and neck flaps, and two painted pebbled front buttons.

The cap follows the familiar M43 field cap configuration with fold down panels extending around the sides and rear for additional protection in cold weather. The front and forward side portions form squared scallops when secured in the raised position. Two pebbled painted magnetic buttons fasten the skirt at the front, and the underside retains the original rayon loops.

The front carries a BeVo style machine embroidered LUFTSCHUTZ winged emblem worked in white and blue thread on a blue gray backing. The backing has been folded neatly beneath the insignia, and the original attachment stitching remains intact. The stitching passes through only the outer layer of the cap fabric, consistent with its original application.

The interior is lined in blue gray rayon HBT material. Light perspiration staining is present around the lower edge, with additional dirt and soiling concentrated around the forehead area.

The crown retains its original issue markings:

1944
RBNr. 0/0454/0041
57

The RBNr., or Reichsbetriebsnummer, was a wartime manufacturer identification system used in place of conventional maker names on many later German military and civil defense items. In this marking, 0 is the industry prefix, 0454 is the location code, and 0041 identifies the individual manufacturer. The surviving reference record for these numbers is incomplete, so the specific maker cannot presently be identified with confidence. However, we have seen this exact marking before on Luftwaffe issued caps.

Overall condition is very good. The Flyer’s Blue wool retains strong color with light overall age toning to the exposed surfaces, while the original deeper shade remains visible beneath the fold down skirt. There are no major tears or visible moth holes.

The visor remains in very good condition. The internal cardboard stiffener can be felt to have several bends and creases from use, but there are no major cracks or tears noted. The wool itself has a noticeably coarser weave than is often encountered on similar caps, consistent with late war material variation.

With its 1944 date, RBNr. 0/0454/0041 marking, size 57 stamp, original BeVo Luftschutz insignia, Flyer’s Blue wool construction, complete fold down skirt, and very good overall condition, this is a strong late war RLB Luftschutz M43 field cap. The light sweat staining, forehead soiling, age toning, and creasing to the visor stiffener are all fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in an RLB, Luftschutz, German civil defense, M43 field cap, or advanced WWII headgear collection.

History of the RLB
The Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB) (National Air Raid Protection League) was organized by Hermann Göring in 1933 as a voluntary association. Existing volunteer air raid precaution associations were forced to merge with RLB. In 1939 the RLB became a Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization), while in 1944 it became an affiliated organization of the NSDAP Party. It was in charge of educating and training ordinary German men and women in civil defense procedures necessary for the basic level of local self-help of the civil population against air raids. The local level was formed around air raid wardens and operated in small first intervention squads. The training include fire fighting, protection against chemical weapons, communication procedures and preparation of houses and apartments against air raids.

The M43 Einheitsmütze (Standard cap), or Einheitsfeltmütze (Standard 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.

Reichsbetriebsnummer or RB number (also represented as RB Nr or Rbnr). Before the war, the Germans set up a system for registering and recording the factory information, the Reichsbetriebskartei. This was to help enable machine tabulation of facts and figures. It was from this that the Reichsbetriebsnummer came into being. The Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion (Ministry for Armaments and War Production) files survive today in the Bundesarchiv, however, these are only fragmentary. There is a holding file from the working group created by the Office of Machine Reporting in the Armament Office of the Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production - their main focus was the operations of the industry group for which an economic interest was Armour production. This index provides information on the most important data of the companies covered by it, production profile, operating area, number of employees and the responsible operator.

As a prerequisite for the intended use of the punch-card method in the armaments industry, it was this system which gave rise to the Rbnr. The operating numbers were assigned by the competent local district offices of Machine reporting. (Bezirksstellen des Maschinellen Berichtswesens.) The index is in the form of index cards that are accessible numerically (approximately 14 meters of index cards!). Access to this register is only possible through the naming of this company, stating the place of production. The Reichsministerium für Rüstung und Kriegsproduktion files have multiple entries on the introduction of the factory and also the lot no.

The Rbnr code was used from 1943 onwards and replaced the makers name and address (or company logo) on government contract uniforms, caps and field equipment and knives. It is either rubber ink stamped on cloth or die stamped onto leather & metal items. It has been written countless times that this numeric code system was introduced as a security measure to help mask production locations. This was not the case but it was perhaps, a helpful by- product of the system. It is not unknown to find the Rbnr together with the maker’s info. Had it been a security measure, clearly this practise would have been banned.

So what was the Rbnr? It was a nine digit number and was normally represented thus: RB Nr: 0/000/0000.

The first prefix number could range from 0 through to 9. This number determined the membership of the various groups in the realm of Trade and Industry (Reichsgruppenleitzahl)

• 0 Industry
• 1 Crafts
• 2 Commercial wholesale trading companies
• 3 Banking
• 4 Insurance Companies
• 5 Energy (Electrical companies and such)
• 6 Tourism (Including Hotels, Wine and Mineral Water companies)
• 7 Traffic
• 8 Food Industry
• 9 Not otherwise mentioned groups