Interesting figure - do tell more about the background.
The Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD) was an important organisation established in Germany by the NSDAP (Nazi Party) to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy. As with many such Party organisations they had a role in instilling military discipline in the young people in the workforce. Part of thetraining included political indoctrination. It was divided into separate sections for men and women.
From June 1935 onward, school leavers and unemployed young men aged between 18 and 25 served six months or more before their compulsory military service. During World War II, the compulsory service was extended to young women and the RAD developed to an auxiliary paramilitary formation which provided support for all three Wehrmacht armed forces.
During the early war RAD units were engaged in supplying frontline troops with food and ammunition, repairing damaged roads and constructing and repairing airstrips. Over the course of the war the roles expanded to include construction of coastal fortifications (many RAD men worked on the Atlantic Wall), laying minefields, manning fortifications, air raid rescue, rubble clearance and guarding vital locations and prisoners.
As the war progressed, hundreds of RAD units were deployed as RAD Flak Batteries. Initially the females formed searchlight units but later also served as crews on Flak guns. Late in the war several RAD units were formed into ground combat on the Eastern Front mainly as infantry. During the final months of the war, RAD young men formed 6 major frontline units, which were involved in serious fighting.
The brown uniforms were unpopular in the units deployed into combat as they could easily be mistaken for Russian and British troops.
