History

In May of 1934, the SS officially introduced the first field cap, the M34, for wear by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and Enlisted Men (EMs) serving with the Allgemeine SS and the SS-VT.

The cap was an earth-grey colour to match the SS drill uniforms and featured an embroidered SA-pattern eagle on the left side of the cap. At this point in time, the SS had not yet introduced their own style of eagle emblem, which was to follow in 1936. In addition, a removable metal button with a raised death’s head was attached to the front skirt. In 1937, the eagle on the side of the cap was replaced with a black triangle that featured an SS-pattern eagle embroidered in white thread.

The cap was modelled after the Army pattern and had a scalloped skirt front and a slouched centre ridge. However, unlike the Army pattern, the SS field cap did not feature air vents. The M34 lining was generally produced out of a solid coloured cotton fabric. Privately purchased caps usually have lining manufactured out of high-quality cotton or rayon.

In 1935, a black version of the cap was introduced for wear with the black service uniform. This cap features the same insignia as the earth-grey version. As of May 1935, the cap was also being produced in a field-grey colour, although this version was reserved for wear by the Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler'. In 1936, the SS-VT was given permission to also wear the field-grey version, but the majority of SS-VT personnel did not receive the cap until 1937/1938.