english pith helmet TR insignia

[davejb]

This English pith helmet i have has the Heer metal insignia attached. I acquired the helmet some yrs ago at an old peoples jumble sale held at their nursing home,the pith helmet is by Walker, Ashworth and Linney Ltd Denton. It has the paper tag still attached behind the leather liner and is dated 1941 and a war dept arrow .It has a silver foil interior and the pins of the insignia are three pronged,it is a very nice example with leather chin strap. I did loosen the pins to see if there was any colour differance underneath and the is its slightly darker, would the german troops use our pith helmets in such a way,as i have only seen one photo of a number of german infantry, wearing something very similar. I only paid £20 for it but it was about 5yrs ago ,any info would be useful ps the photo i saw showed this type of helmet and not the german issue kind.

[jimpy]

Hi Dave

It was, and still is, common practice for troops to re-issue suitable captured kit and equipment. The German army of WW2 was notorious for doing this and I suspect that this is what has been done in the case of your pith helmet.

Any photos available Dave, they would help us out a great deal mate.

Regards etc

[davejb]

Sorry but i just havent got the means to do so yet but i hope to post all my bits and pieces within the next few days provided my daughter gives me my damn camera back.

[Jerry B]

Hi,
You need to post pics to get a proper answer, but it did happen, with the germans using french, dutch and italian piths, as issue items, all with or without attached german badges. The use of british piths is known from period pictures, though usually not with tr insignia. There is a vet bring back british pith with a field police cap badge fixed to the front in a recent book of german helmets, by Ken Niewiarowicz, but I can't think of any others.

VonBond

[davejb]

I cant remember whether it was a book or a History channel programme that i saw these german troops all wearing these type of pith helmets, but it was a close up shot .I do know that they were all on some kind of parade in tropical uniform but i dont know if it was Africa or the Meditteranean, but how i know it was the same was because the shot was from one end of the parade looking down the line and across to the far side.It matched my helmet in every detail on the outside,just wait till i get my camera going

[davejb]

What i have found out is that is well worth visiting these OAP jumble sales or the charity shops, Last year i was walking past an Oxfam shop and there in the window was a lovely pair of german 6 x 30 binoculars in desert sand colour minus the eye shield and strap but the optics on them are perfect crystal clear magnification and i managed to get a nice original strap for them at WAP. A friend of mine was at a jumble sale a few weeks ago and some old boy all of 90 sold him his red beret with kings crown para wings attached for £15 and he invited my mate back to see some other bits and pieces,like his army pay book , medals ,and some other documents, i would reckon that seeing this old timer has no other family that my mate will see him alright and end up with all this extra memorabilia.

[Neil Hever]

Our friend former AK Leutnant Gerhard Hennes made a point of saying the British pith helmets were preferred for the style. He said wearing one made you feel like a "colonial master." Neil Hever

[davejb]

Thankyou Neil, thats very encouraging to know that this was a documented occurrence and one from a veteran of that campaign, its made me a much happier man and i hope a richer one, i must admit it does look nice although not a strictly authorised TR item its what i would consider a rare and interesting one in that the German army actually preferred wearing our kit as opposed to their own, and now the tables are turned and we clammer to collect theirs!!

[Jerry B]

Hi, Any chance of some pics?

Thanks, Jerry

[davejb]

Hi jerry, yes im still waiting for my daughter to sort the little attachment out that she says i have to use to upload photos, shes just moved and its in one of her boxes, its getting frustrating because ive wanted to post photos for ages and i wanted to show this one off, i love the look of it.