Germany (Nazi), Luftwaffe m.40 combat helmet,

Several years ago I took some photos of the helmets at our local (privately owned) museum.   The late owner had about twenty really nice helmets, five of which ended up in my collection.  This one he was hanging on to, but he generously let me photograph it in detail.  

Here is a link to the German m.42, raw-edge luft model,  that I posted back in 2015.

This is an m.40 German helmet, issued to the Luftwaffe.  The m.40 is characterized by a rolled-rim, a stamped ventilator, and corner-less steel chinstrap loops.  This is a particularly nice specimen, and a fine example to guide your collecting efforts.

It is an m.40 in superb condition.  And from this point on, it'll just be a walk-around comprised of photos.

The finish of this helmet is close to 100%.

The decal is in wonderful shape as it the entire helmet.  And the m.m40 stamped ventilator is shown to good effect.

The liner is in pretty good condition, with some flaking along the edge.

One of the few discrepencies is that the tip is missing from the chinstrap, which is unfortunate as that is where the manufacture's mark is...manufacturer of the chinstrap, that is.

A close-up of the leather flaking.  Despite the claims of many, there is no way to reverse this.

The chinstrap loops of the earlier m.35, were cast aluminum with square corners, in subsequent models, including this m.40, the loops are steel wire with rounded corners.

I think it speaks well of my collecting discipline that I didn't buy it myself;  I have a nice army m.40 as well as a Luftwaffe m.42...not to mention, there is only so much wallspace.

A very handsome helmet, indeed!

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie

 

Germany WWI camouflage m.16 combat helmet

My favorite helmet, and, next to the Berndorfer, the showpiece of my collection. I acquired this helmet from the owner of our local town museum.  It had been on display there for decades.  This helmet is fabulous for many reasons, all of which will be revealed.

This is a World War I German m.16 combat helmet with painted three-color geometric camouflage pattern.

The profile of the classic German Sthalhelm.

Painted in brown, green, and tan, each color is separated by a thick "finger-width" black line.

The ventilation lugs are of the "stepped" variety.

The paint remains very much intact and vivid.  This has been in a museum collection for many years.  

The marks left by the brush used to apply the paint are very much in evidence.

The name of the soldier is written inside the skirt.

The m.16 is distinguished from the later m.17 by the leather liner band.  The band in the m.17 and m.18 were metal.

Three liner pads are affixed to the band and each has a pad behind it.  These pads are comprised of a fabric envelope usually filled with batting or horsehair, which could be added to, or subtracted from, to custom fit the helmet for the comfort of the wearer.

The liner band is affixed to the shell by three split-pins, this is the split pin from the inside...

and this is the split-pin from the outside

The size and manufacturer's mark are stamped inside of the side of the skirt.

Note the white rectangle in the rear, this is what makes and extraordinary helmet even more so.

It's a mailing label.  It was not uncommon for doughboys to send home helmets as souvenirs.  Usually, all they had to do was get it approved, slap an label on it, and let the postal clerk do the rest.

(helmets ready to be shipped back to the States

The helmet belonged to Quartermaster sergeant William H. Hetzer, and he was mailing it home to a family member in Williamsport.

Williamsport is just twelve miles from my house, which explains how it ended up in our village museum.

When I acquired this helmet in January, I thought it would be cool to drive over to Williamsport to see if there are still any Hetzer family members there; but I got overtaken by events and time went by.  This summer I was able to locate a Hetzer family member in Williamsport...it was his obituary, he left no descendants.  He died two weeks after I got the helmet.

It's a wonderful helmet with a fascinating story.  And I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have sharing it with you.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie

 

Japan: model 30-32 (type 90) Combat Helmet (part one)

 Talk about a land of contrasts...

For a quick analysis regarding Japanese atrocities before and during WWII, click here

They were truly the "Evil Empire".

Ladies and gentlemen the Japanese model 30-32 steel combat helmet:

With its distinctive acorn shape here is a distinctive symbol, and reminder, of the scourge of the 

so-called Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

With long web chinstrap tapes and leather liner this non-ballistic and fairly lightweight helmet conqured much of the eastern hemisphere.

Front of helmet with insignia of the Japanese Landing Force

Close up of insignia. I believe that this helmet originally had the Army insignia on the front of it as I can just make out the indentations in the olive/brown paint of the five-pointed army star.

Leather liner and cotton chin tapes. The Liner is a three-finger system sewn to a leather band, riveted 

to the shell.

This rivet appears to have lost its head (don't we all from time to time).

Liner mounting rivets are peened.

Right side with two tiny ventilation holes visible

Detail of script handwritten on liner.

(This, from reader Ted: I wandered around [your blog] a bit, and stumbled over your Japanese helmet, that evidently belonged to someone named Imai, perhaps with a given name of Shokichi).

Some however, were reconditioned and sold for export, as we'll see in next week's entry.

 

Be advised that searching for Japanese war photos on "Google images" can present some very jarring images about their savage romp in China.

With some heavy scratches and moderate wear, I'm very happy to have this hard-to-come-by example in the collection. It is a particularly light helmet and the Greenish-brown paint has been brushed on and is rather thick in places.

Provenance:

This helmet was purchased on Okinawa Japan in the mid-1980s by my brother who was stationed there for two years with the U.S. Navy.  He noted the difficulty of securing not just a helmet in this good condition, but of getting any Japanese helmet at all. Japan was so diligent in shedding its militarist past that most of these helmets were destroyed immediately 

after the war.