So going by that theory, one should be able to locate few german helmets first..... before encountering the "rare' hungarian helmets.
So going by that theory, one should be able to locate few german helmets first..... before encountering the "rare' hungarian helmets.
Also according to Brother Kijak: (written in 1993) :
German helmets with original Polish painted insignia are super rare. There is no way to distinguish helmets painted after war for "All Saints Day " when Polish Boy Scouts stood guard by graves wearing "Uprising outfits" in 1946 and 1947.
Polish "Milicja" has used all kind of helmets in the late 1940's, and on these helmets they painted "Eagles", White and Red Flags, and other things. These are often called wrongly : " Uprising helmets "
Also, the Hungarian helmets as shown above are in great shape..... hardly used.... no dings, dents... one would expect heavy use in "Uprising ".
Yes, very rare indeed. I do have maybe 4-5 pictures clearly shoving AK members with hungarian helmets. Only found 3 examples in 15 years from Poland. This is the only one with any insignia. The first one was the poor relic shell found in the Vistula river, the second helmet has greygreen overpaint but complete. The last one was a shell only with postwar black overpaint.
I know that hand painted eagles and decals were quite common on polish helmets including fire service even in postwar period, surely many of these has been misidentified as uprising items. None of these helmets were sold as "megarare" AK helmets but hungarian helmets found in the Vistula or in Warshaw. I paid bargain price, I'd would be very happy with them even as a standard hungarian helmet worn by hungarian soldiers stationed in Poland or postwar reissued hungarian helmets from polish fire service or militia. One thing is for sure, these helmets got there in 1944 and all of them has unsual modifications suggesting and interesting story and some foreign usage.
Problem is we do not know when these helmets got to Poland. Hungarian soldiers were stationed all over Poland, so of course found in Vistula or found in Warsaw sounds great, but....
Vistula River find is a sellers story, you did not find it, so it could be found anywhere. We cannot say these helmets got there in 1944 either...
Sorry but hungarian soldiers were not stationed all over Poland and it is known exactly that hungarian troops got to polish territory from late 1943 and mainly in 1944. After august 1943 directly to the Warsaw area. Since that time hungarian forces actively supported AK and the revolution too. As for the time frame these helmets could not get to Poland before summer 1943 and after 1945. It would not be a big deal for any seller to advertise a relic hungarian helmet with such a story. It's not like a typical fake german helmet with SS decal, exotic insignia, camo paint and wire. I don't care about stories, I always buy the items. The relic shell and the green overpainted GY M35 are ebay purchases the one with polish "flag" came directly from a polish guy with postwar black overpaint. He had no idea about the helmet's condition, never said a word about it's "rarity". These ones are original ww2 hungarian helmets showing some unusual features found and/or purchased from Poland/Warsaw area. As I wrote possibly worn buy hungarian soldiers or AK members in 1944. I'm not intent to convince you nor to state being 100 % AK items but wanted to show some interesting helmets which are quite uncommon in Poland.
https://translate.google.com/transla...wiatowej%2Cid%
" I'm not intent to convince you nor to state being 100 % AK items but wanted to show some interesting helmets which are quite uncommon in Poland. " end quote.
Hungarians went to Russia, and later they were retreating... through where ?? When one retreats on foot, first thing one loses is a protective mask, later helmet.
Hungarians blocked a bridge passage for 27th Dywizja AK in 1944 in Wolyn. So they were all over Poland.
In the 1990's when the german relics started bringing good money, hungarian helmets got brought in. They can be made look like the german m35 to the uninitiated, but were lot cheaper than a german helmet. These got used in movies, theaters, etc.
Who knows who painted that on that helmet and when ?? At best this is a Milicja helmet, later for Fire Protection, at worse, someone painted it ....
Well, hungarian helmets in ww2 condition with original paint are rare even in Hungary and have been rare since 1950 because the majority of the surviving helmets have been restored, repainted and relined after the war. Only a few countries used hungarian helmets in very small numbers though, I have examples from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and Russia. Maybe it's only a coincidence with these helmets however based on the circumstances it's possible they had been in Poland since 1944. If not that's fine, I'd also be very happy with a hungarian helmet used by polish fire service too. Bottom line- good helmets, extra- came from Poland and/or Warsaw, bonus- possible uprising connection?! Who knows? You can't rule out.
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