Article about: During the month of July 2015 I helped my wife's family clean out a house, preparatory to sale, which had belonged to my wife's uncle and aunt, both now deceased. Uncle Jack had served in Eu
During the month of July 2015 I helped my wife's family clean out a house, preparatory to sale,
which had belonged to my wife's uncle and aunt, both now deceased.
Uncle Jack had served in Europe in the U.S. Army in WW2. In a box of his old things, long stored
in the house's garage, I found a German WW2 steel helmet. I am not a militaria expert, but I do
have a strong interest in WW2 military history, and the helmet seemed quite unusual to me, due
to the decal on its left side.
I asked my wife's cousins, uncle Jack's children, if they knew the story of the helmet. They
said that uncle Jack brought the helmet home from Europe as a souvenir, that he told them he
took it from a captured German soldier.
We also found a small pocket diary, in uncle Jack's handwriting, which he kept during his time
in the service. It's a French diary, and the entry for "Avril 17, 1945" reads in part: "Slept
in a Gestapo Hdq in Hagen & moved to the outskirts to set up the mortar by a farm house.
Dug in & spent the night in the house. Slept in a single bed with Roselli. Pulled guard from
1-3. Three bus' of Germans surrendered today."
I told the family that I thought the helmet might be a rare item, and they asked me to do some
research. A quick search around the web told me that the helmet appears to be an M42 Sauerland
helmet, which I now understand to be quite rare. The family is interested in finding the value
of the helmet, and may be interested in selling it.
As for the diary entry, I discovered on the web that the last German troops fighting in the
Ruhr pocket, including elements of the Sauerland Friekorps, surrendered to the Allies on or
about April 18, 1945, with the last fights taking place in Hagen and Limburg.
We'd appreciate any feedback/thoughts on this. I am attaching pics of the helmet (liner &
chinstrap are still intact), as well as a jpeg scan of the entry from uncle Jack's war diary.
Hello and welcome to the forum!
Although we would be happy to assist you as to determining the authenticity of this helmet, we are not a free appraisal service.
I do not study helmets but I like what I see here and the provenance would increase your odds immensely. You should be able to find a stamp, possibly two. One would be on the inside skirt over the right ear and possibly another at the center of the rear of the skirt. The details of the decal and the wear are what I would expect to see on an original.
I am sure other members will be along shortly to give their opinions as well.
Ralph.
Searching for anything relating to, Anton Boos, 934 Stamm. Kp. Pz. Erz. Abt. 7, 3 Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 2, 16th Panzer-Division (My father)
It is difficult to make a call, especially on a rare helmet, from photos alone. But I do like what I see. It is really unusual though to see one of these on a beaded shell. Can you see a maker mark on the shell? If it is made by NS, that would be a good thing.
If it is real, you are correct, they are quite rare and pretty valuable although the buyer pool is limited somewhat by it not being a true combat helmet.
Thanks for the quick replies. The helmet is being kept at Jack's daughter's house, I'll go there, perhaps not until Friday, to check for the marks & stamps you've mentioned.
Hi, (and welcome to the forum) not a decal that I have studied due to it's rarity but it has "the look" of a period applied piece. A nice beaded M42 as well, so I hope the experts on these Sauerland decals will give it the thumbs up. Leon.
These are rare in any case...the fact that it isn't a regular combat lid has little bearing on desirability, as Freikorps Sauerland was an Irregular Volkssturm Formation to begin with..
cheers, Glenn
You should be able to find a stamp, possibly two. One would be on the inside skirt over the right ear and possibly another at the center of the rear of the skirt.
Thanks Ralph. I now have pics of the stamp under the rear skirt of the helmet; there is no stamp visible to me inside the right ear, or indeed anywhere else on the helmet.
There is, however, an inked stamp on the helmet liner. Pics of both are attached.
Appears to be an NS sized 64 with lot # 6844 (or maybe 8844). The "N" in the "NS" (which is the maker) is just lightly stamped.
Later in the war, most of the helmet manufacturers moved their maker stampings to the rear of the helmet as seen in on this example. The lot numbers were almost always in the rear.
NS is the code for Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke, Schwerte
The ink stamp is the size of the liner (56)
So as Terry says...being an "NS" is a good thing as I would assume from his comment that other know examples of Sauerland helmets were probably from the same maker.
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
M42 Sauerland Helmet
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by rbminis
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