I thought I would share some photos of my German helmet collection with you all...

This is a one piece Luftschutz helmet with its original paint.


And this is a three piece variant, the helmet was in poor condition when I got it (with no original paint remaining) so I repainted it with the correct RAL colour and applied a new decal.


This is an original M42 shell and liner, again, repainted (with a little aluminium oxide powder added to the paint to give a rough texture finish) and repro decal applied. The shell was in poor condition when I bought it with a lot of pitting, it also had holes drilled in it and a handle attached so it could be used as a scoop of some sort ! The holes were welded up and most of the pitting was concealed using car body filler.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Nice helmets, thanx for sharing them, Jagdpanther44!

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This is a repro M38 fallschirmjager helmet.
I would love the real thing...but I don't have a spare £2000+ in cash...

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

a very nice collection of helmets there well done and thankyou for showing
us your collection .. nice pics .. cheers krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

Nicely restored helmets, John ! The Fallschirmjager repro looks nice, too.....

I agree about helmet prices which seem to me to be very high - I only have two, the German relic and a British para helmet, 1944-dated, which I found in a Muswell Hill junk shop in 2000 for £10.....

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Great looking collection John!!
Forgive me but I have to go look up what the Luftschutz is!

I found it!! Cool!
The Air Protection Warning Service (Luftschutzwarndienst-LSW) was a civilian organization whose purpose it was to alert the population of impending air raid attacks.

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

This is a non combat parade helmet (shell only). This type of helmet was made from a vulcanised fibre material which made it a lot lighter than a standard helmet.



A firemans helmet complete with aluminium 'comb' over the top, liner and horse hair filled crown pad, which gave more comfort for the wearer. I suspect the shell has been repainted post war.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

£10... Blimey!

What a bargain, Martin. British para helmets are like gold dust and fetch good money...very good money!

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

I worked in Muswell Hill for enarly three years and passed that shop nearly every day. He had the very occasional bit of WWII stuff but nothing exciting. Just before I changed jobs, I was walking past and saw the helmet on the pavement with a load of household junk. I recognized it straightaway bought thought it would certainly be postwar - maybe Suez-era. I picked it up, looked at the band and nearly shouted 'YESSSSSS!' when I saw the date....




It was one of those moments when you think - how high shall I go ? £50? £85? £100?? I asked the price, trying not to seem too interested....

'Oh, I've just put that thing out. Call it a tenner ?'

I walked away clutching the helmet, pinching myself....I still can't quite believe it now, eight years later !

Here's my complete collection of helmets, total outlay - £25.....



The netting on the Para helmet is not original, but the interior fittings are in very good condition. It is NOT an 'Arnhem' helmet - they were the ones with the leather lining and chin-cups ( the Poles did take the webbing-type to Arnhem, though...).



But no matter - it's 1944-dated and that's good enough for me !

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

I couldn't agree more Martin, the helmet is wartime and thats what counts...

Three more from 'the collection'.
From left to right: M40 with repro splinter pattern cover. M42 (shell only) with original breadbag strap. Another M42 (shell only), this time repainted and with German medics decals added-which were on the helmet when I bought it.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Great stuff jagdpanther44!!

Curious that the medic helmet insignia is so small, as their counterparts were quite large?

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Apologies Scott, I should have explained in a little more detail, the decal is that of the DRK or German Red Cross.
You are correct in thinking that a field medics insignia was larger, in actual fact the germans painted large red crosses on their helmets, much like the allies did.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

Nice collections of helmets guys.

As for a German Medics helmet insignia. I have one private smapshop photo of a few German Medics in action. I don't know where or what year but, I think only 1 or 2 of them had the large white crosses painted on their lids.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

I've never seen one of these with a heer eagle on it...it looks nice but is it correct?

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In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility:but when the blast of war blows in our ears,then imitate the action of the tiger;stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;then lend the eye a terrible aspect. William Shakespeare

Hi VK, the decal is correct, the army (Heer) did have their own Fallschirmjager units.

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Regards
John

"It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see" - Winston Churchill

i love collection posts
like my grampas collection
knowing that these once belonged to a soldier