Soviet Union Ssh 40 combat helmet

(In honor of president Donald J. Trump)

The Cold War

 

The Good Guys versus...

the Bad Guys.

At least that's how it seemed when I was a kid.  The Cold War was defined by the Commie Russians and the Free World.  Simple huh? no ISIS, no Iraq, no Al Qaeda, no Fox News.

The Cold War was foremost in everyone's mind, Conelrad , Radio Free Europe, bomb shelters,

 and "duck and cover" were household terms.

Here come the commies!

Here's a close up look at the helmet which defined the Red Army of the USSR and its satellite states.  This is the first of four posts on the countries that used the Ssh 40-style helmet.

This is an unissued helmet that joined the collection about ten years ago.

The distinctive flares at the ears are reminiscent

of the earlier Ssh 36.

Six rivets affix the liner to the shell.

The liner is very simple; three padded oilcloth sections mounted on an interrupted steel band.

Cotton batting provides cushion in each pad.  If a soldier needed a better fit all he had to do was remove some of the batting.

All pads are marked...

as is the shell.

The fabric, two piece  chinstrap is attached to flexible bails.

The strap is cotton webbing with a painted metal ferrule.

It's adjusted with a simple slider buckle.

The Ssh 40 has a distinctive profile that characterized the Red soldier of the Cold War.

 As mentioned above this is the first of four installments of the Ssh 40 as it was used by various

"Iron Curtain" countries.

Clockwise, from upper left: Soviet Ssh 40, Polish wz. 1950,

Hungarian m.50-65, Czech m. 53.

The shells are nearly identical with differences in rivets, liners, and chinstraps. The Ssh 40-style helmet was used by a variety of communist countries in the post-WWII era. 

 Dasvidaniya comradskis!