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    Lets see your German WW2 Helmets


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    I do not collect WW2 Helmets as a focus, but I do like to see what others have. I only have this one, which I picked up recently for display with my M43 tunic. Lets see what you have in your collections.

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    Those are some great helmets John. Is the Double Decal LW repainted brown or is that oxidation? Regardless, I actually like it a lot. I do not see too many first pattern eagles on field worn helmets.

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    I love helmets!! I have 24 in my collection at this time....all different in one way or another. I will start with my DD m35 lufty lid. It has the early drop tail eagle with the snake leg variant. This was actually the second helmet I ever acquired.

    With the name tag I was able to narrow it down to the a medium flak unit that served in Poland and went all the way into Russian and ended the war in Prussia....Neat stuff...

    Rob

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    Rob,

    Thank you for sharing your helmet. I love the eagle on that one. How were you able to get such detailed information from a simple name? It must have been a highly unusual name. What others do you have? I look forward to seeing them.

    Ewe... Thanks for the liner shot. That helmet of yours is stellar. I love the nonglare finish on it.

    I do have a question... I know that regulations came out first to cover up/remove the shield, then the national eagle, on the helmets. I am sure that this was done in mass, at formation. My question is that, how did so many double decal helmets survive the war? Were they already picked up as souviners before each of the regulations were passed?

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    Hey Paul! Great question about the double decals and the tri-colour being removed. I'm not sure why some examples survived that order.

    As for the name on the DD lufty: It was because of the information that is included with the name that made it possible to get the info....Here is what I was able to gather.....this information was passed onto me from another collector who knows how to read these unit abbreviations....

    This helmet belonged to a man who was with the Leichte Flak Batallion (71st). This unit was involved in WW2 from start to finish! Knowing that, I can tell you that this unit formed in 1938 in Konigsberg under Lt. General Johannes Lentzsch. In September 1939, it was dispatched to support the 10th Panzer Division in Poland. In May 1940, it was in France again with 10th Panzer. In April 1941, it was sent to the balkansIn June 1941 it was part of Barbarossa supporting the 11. Pz.Div. (Central Russia) This unit stayed in central Russia until 1944By 1944 it found it's way to BeresinaAnd ended the war in EastPrussia (Ostpreussen) Brandenburg in 1945. That being said.......I wonder how much travelling this helmet did???? Ahhh, if only these lids could talk. There you have it Greg.....amazing the amount of info you can get from simply looking inside the liner! hahahahaI love this hobby.......especially when a little work offers so much reward!

    Oh yeah - Here’s the next thing...I was also given info on the tag....

    I now have this helmet belonging to one of about 10 men......let me explain:The "2." means 2d Battery. The "8." refers to something that was "within" or a "part of" 2d Battery, and the educated guess here would be a Trupp (squad). Since a Flakbatterie (usually around 160 men) rarely (if ever) had 8 Züüge (8 x c. 42 men = 336 men), then Trupp is the logical deduction. Each Trupp (flexible, but usually not more than 10 men) would have probably crewed one or two guns. With the info I have received, I first.I thought this was a heavy flak unit (88) but that's not the case.This is a leichte Flak-Abteilung, so we are talking about 20mm Flak, Vierling Flak (quad 20mm mounts) and 37mm Flak, all or most of which were vehicle-mounted.

    Anyways.....I do like this helmet quite a bit....lots of character....if only I could get it to talk! :)

    Will post more helmets as time allows!

    Cheers!

    Rob

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    OK....Another quickie for now! Hee hee....

    Here's an M42 that has a lot of character. It was brought back by a Canadian soldier out of Kitchener Ont. He landed in Normandy and was involved in the fighting thereafter...no other details I'm afraid.

    What I like is the 'pea dot' pattern that has been painted on this lid. It makes me think of the pea dot pattern found on the SS tunics of the time. Keep in mind the Canadians were fighting the 12th Hitler Jugend SS in Normandy. I looked up the name but had no 'hits' on the German war graves registration. I can't prove that this helmet was worn by a member of the 12th SS - it's just conjecture on my part...but there is always a chance given where the helmet came from and the 'look' of the camo on it.

    I really like this lid....

    Cheers!

    Rob

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