french m26 relic helmet

[James C]

just to share a very recent aquisition from a very kind fellow on this forum ,my understanding is this relic was a barn find found in northern france ,as you can see the liner and chinstrap has long since gone but the shell is strong and has a nice outline of the missing republic of france flaming grenade insignia ,for now as you can see ive fitted a genuine but post war insignia from a gendarmerie helmet i had knocking about ,i have taken a picture of the maker mark but cant make it out so if anybody recognises the ink stamp style please let me know ,so many thanks to steve, you might know him as harry the mole but all the same a real gent and i enjoyed our meet up

[Mark K]

Nice James it will display rather well with any luck you will be able to source a badge with the same patina and in the same condition as the shell.

Regards Mark

[James C]

thanks mark for your nice comments and interest the post war badge is a good substitute for now but i have a feeling the original badge will set my back a few quid so i best save my pennies here she is settled in on the shelf

[Gunny Hartmann]

Cool lid mate!...

[James C]

cheers paul you might recognise the pebbled stock above

[Gunny Hartmann]

cheers paul you might recognise the pebbled stock above

Oh yes!...

[James C]

a small update to the adrian relic ,i finally managed to pick up a nice worn artillery badge which i feel is totally in keeping with the overall wear and age of the shell the downside as you can see is a section of cannon is missing but i feel it adds character ,oh and the mounting prongs were missing too so for now its good old blue tack to the rescue ,this badge if im right would have been the pre 1937 badge as found on the m15 too im happy though as ive seen m26 examples with this earlier style fitted ,the latter style wasnt as extravagant and was merely a mounted round disc with a much smaller insignia im sorry if the pictures arent the best but they were taken on my wifes ipad

[Steelhead10]

Very nice James, ahh good ole blue tack, I have a Modern R.E cap badge and the slider broke of the back(long story It was in a british army trouser pocket and it fell off its hanger and I didnt know it was in there untill then, now I check all pockets first)

[James C]

thanks matt im giving all my display secrets away but thought best be honest in case one of the forum members wanted a pic of the rear of the insignia and thought id used chewing gumthanks for dropping by mate

[ynot]

I like the damaged badge James, it goes well with the helmet. I reckon and will look great between the other two helmets.

Tony