French M26 helmet

[Ale]

Good evening,

I wanted to share photos of this French helmet.
I did some research in internet and here in the forum and I think the model is M26.
However I have noticed that my helmet does not have the ventilation holes under the crest and I would like to have your opinion about the authenticity and about these holes.
Thank you

Ale

[DumpsterBaby]

Hi Ale, that definitely fits the bill for an M26. My first thought about the absence of vent holes would be that it may be a parade helmet, but those are generally aluminum and that doesn't appear to be the case with yours. My other theory would be that it's from a very early or late run during which the vent holes were omitted for expediency. I don't know if that is a factual thing that happened though. Color, liner, and construction looks legit otherwise. That D mark is the shell size. I'm surprised that there aren't any other manufacturers marks since that one survived. Have you checked the under side of the liner fingers? Maybe someone else will come along with some more definitive info.

[lebus12]

100 % original but can find a better one.

[Ale]

Hi dumpsterbaby,
today I had the opportunity to take home the helmet that was in a cellar.
Being able to observe it more calmly, I removed the cover and found the ventilation holes.
Thanks anyway for your quick reply and I hope I didn't waste your time.
However, I was unable to find the manufacturer's mark.

Ale

[DumpsterBaby]

No worries Ale, I'm glad you found them after all. That's a shame the manufacturer stamp didn't survive. Still a cool piece though. If you haven't come across world-war-helmets.com yet, it may be able to help you out more. World War Helmets - Reference de casques de 1915 a nos jours. use in chrome for best results (auto-translate) and create an account for full info.