M35 "Moto Helmet"

[GIZMO8Z]

Here's a ..."borrowed" German kubelwagon in Italy with an "... or Bust" motto painted on it...



Ask the seller for close up/ macro pics of the motto... Look for signs of age, especially crazing (cracking).

[Cody Countryman]

Another question, if the Moto on the helmet turns out to be authentic, what would a good value of the helmet be?

[Cody Countryman]

I was able to purchase the helmet today, it looks pretty nice and I had a good vibe with the guy I was dealing with. I'll post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

[Cody Countryman]

Unfortunately my camera is not letting pictures. But I may have to sell this helmet now since my car , washing machine, and a few others things broke and took alot out of my savings.
In the case I do need to sell this, how much would you think the "vet art" would add to this helmet?

[sirio]

Hi everybody,
Bologna was north of the Gotic Line, It took strong battles for the allied to get there. "Bologna or bust" could have been written by an American soldier as a wish to break the Gotic Line and get there.
By the way, I studied at Bologna university, but that is another history.

[KradSpam]

I missed this one, it stands a good chance at being originally applied IMO. As for price being affected by the paintwork, personally vet art reduces value of a given helmet in my eyes, it's not for everyone.

[Cody Countryman]

Ah alright, I figured original vet art would add more value to the helmet since it's not to common and that it is faked alot.

[3986QMTC]

The old - and it goes back at least as far as the late 1840s - cry of "____ or Bust" is one of those Americanisms that was still in common use during the 1940's, and the national appetite for alliteration probably made Bologna "catchier" than, for example, Modena. That's just an offhand assessment of popular culture, though.

Another possibility is what some others have pointed out about Bologna's location. In the part of the US where I grew up, a lot of the WWII veterans who served in Italy had been with the 34th Infantry Division (the "Red Bulls," or "Bloody Cows"), and I believe they were more-or-less across the MLR from Bologna, which would have been the logical goal of the time. Interestingly, I listened many years ago to a local farmer who had been with the 34th in Italy talk about being able to bring back a German helmet, but not his own helmet which had been perforated by a German bullet. "Bad for morale," and all that.

The vets had their own reasoning for doing things helmets meant nothing to them like they do us. My dad talked of throwing them under tank threads too watch them crush.

My transportation officer uncle hauled nearly everything imaginable from mid-1944 until some time in 1946, and he spoke of the piles of helmets, which - unlike the stacks of small arms - were thought to take up more space than they were worth. They were there for the taking, yet there were surprisingly few takers in the larger scheme of things.

Regards,

G. Kelly

[timothy]

That's right QMTC same with my dad said helmets too big to carry around didn't want them. Also as he said a infantryman on front line on the move always had no where to store any big item "Helmets, K98k etc. said that stuff was left to the rear people that had access to ship home. Like he said it was hard enough to carry around your own helmet and rifle much less enemy stuff especially on the go. timothy