1944 Luftwaffe M43 Field Cap

[TexasCheesehead]

I picked this up this over the weekend at a garage sale. It's a Luftwaffe M43 wool field cap that's dated 1944. The RB number indicates that it was made by the Almi Uniform und Mützenfabrlk. lnh. Alfred Mies of Luxemburg. The buttons are stamped on the backs "FJS". The cap is in remarkably good condition, missing only one of the earphone loops and the tri-colour threaded cockade, which appears to have been removed. What do you think? Authentic or repro?

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[TBIRD430]

Has to be a repro- Surely

[Flying10uk]

Difficult to say, one way or the other, unless you know it's history or you happen to be a WW2 German cap expert, which I am not. Original items such as this can survive in almost new condition. I have a number of WW2 German cloth badges, for example, that are in new condition and have never been used or put on a uniform. I know my badges are original because I know their history; they were given to my father shortly after WW2 by British army veteran. He had "liberated" them when his unit had captured a German army supply depot/quarter masters stores.

[Charlie303]

As F10 says, difficult call unless you know what to look for. If it is a repro, it looks pretty good quality.
If it's made of wool (looks it) best to keep it in a polythene bag with a moth strip.

[bigduke6]

I'm no expert, but have dabbled in uniforms and head gear in the past, the first thing I look at on any German stuff is the badge and the stiching.....then wear and tear and fade spots, such as behind the buttons etc.

The cap does look good but the eagle lets it down in my opinion if you compare it to the links below.

Luftwaffe M43 cap opinions

WW2 GERMAN LUFTWAFFE M43 ENLISTED FIELD CAP JB Military Antiques