Original German WWII Reichsarbeitsdienst RAD Labor Service Officer's Rubberized Regenumhang Rain Cape with Closure Clasps

Original Item. Only One Available. This is a high quality private-purchased RAD Labor Service Officer's Rubberized Regenumhang Rain Cape, complete with the original closure clasps. These are very difficult to find due to the fragility of rubberized canvas over time. This example however is still holding up very well.

The Officer’s cape, commonly called a Spanier (Spaniard), was an optional, private purchase, item of dress permitted for wear by all Officers and Officials with equivalent positions when regulations didn’t prescribe a certain order of dress. The closure chain device had a disc to each side of the front closure with embossed RAD emblems.

The material of the cape is in fair condition overall, however holding it up to light will show light shining through some of the material, which likely means it is weak in spots. There are no markings we could find on the cape. The closure clasps, called in German "Spanierschloss Kette für Offizier Umhangare" well-retained and still close correctly. They are still completely tight to the cape.

A fantastic example, the first we have offered, ready for further research and display!

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.