Reissued Helmets

**bigmacglenn** · 10-08-2012, 07:43 PM

Here you can see a fragment of the removed Heer decal on my m40 re-issue...(ET66 #213) They did an outstanding job removing the decal at tthe factory, and you can only see this at an angle in the proper light...
Each helmet tells its own story...
Cheers, Glenn

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 10-08-2012 07:43 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**DougB** · 10-09-2012, 02:28 AM

by helmetone

Did you sell it for 4 times the value

Just for what I paid. Actually I think I lost a grand come to think of it....

**Danmark** · 10-09-2012, 02:51 AM

by moaning minnie

I should think some field supply/depot usually or even repaired my themselves,I know US M1 depots carried boxes of spare liners and chinstraps and just grabbed what was to hand first hence why different mis matches show up,the brushed painted helmets have to be field applied looking at the roughness of the strokes and the way its unevenly layered.regards minnie.

So, what we are saying here guys is that liners 'may have' been replaced in the field - yes? Then, if so ( and I'm sure they never had stocks of new rivets available ) that may explain some of the loose rivets / double bends / missing washers ( they are buggers to refit ) and mismatched rivets we sometimes see? Maybe we should not be so critical of these features as we sometimes are? ( if the lid seems otherwise un-tampered with )

I sometimes have a chuckle to myself thinking how the average soldier ( were he alive today ) would be quite bemused at our ( sometimes anal but always forensic ) assessment of what he considered a utilitarian and noggin protecting item!
Cheerio, Dan

**Sir Payne** · 10-09-2012, 03:20 AM

What I find really weird about the helmet collecting community is that there is so much information that we do not know. WWII was not that long ago, and many of the people involved are still alive today! Why can't somebody just walk up to an elderly German that worked in the helmet factory back then and ask them why some helmets are beaded, and how did the reissuing process work? etc..etc.. It makes no sense to me why we don't know this stuff already. There are literally hundreds of people in Germany right now that have the answers!!! In a few years all of those people will die out and we will never get the chance to know the truth... Maybe I'll learn German and ask them myself.

**DougB** · 10-09-2012, 03:58 AM

How do you know which elderly Germans worked in helmet factories? ;-)

I have known a few German vets, field repairs and upgrades, refits were common, this means missing washers, bent pins and the like. A salty combat vet with the correct liner matching in condition I have no problem if it's got bent pins or missing washers. Pins came loose via heavy use, these things got knocked about. It's when a minty Helmet has bent pins I get worried. But even missing washers I've seen on dead mint helmets, German factory workers ( ie foreign slaves ) weren't the most motivated bunch and last time I checked factory workers even today made mistakes especially on an assembly line to make quota.

Dan I agree we as collectors get way too anal sometimes.

**Sir Payne** · 10-09-2012, 05:16 AM

by DougB

How do you know which elderly Germans worked in helmet factories? ;-)

Newspaper ad. "If you worked in a Helmet factory during WWII please call this number..."

Hey, if somebody is willing to do it, send me the bill and I'll pay for the ad!

**Danmark** · 10-09-2012, 05:51 AM

by cgp1066

Newspaper ad. "If you worked in a Helmet factory during WWII please call this number..."

Hey, if somebody is willing to do it, send me the bill and I'll pay for the ad!

As has been said to me in the past " your intentions are admirable" but I fear father time is against us. Even the youngest of factory workers then would be in their 80's or 90's now and trying hard to remember what they did last week, let alone 70 years ago. I think what we have is the best we are going to get, sadly. That said, PLEASE continue to pose questions and promote theories, we ALL need to be challenged ( or we'll get Alzheimers too )

**MD Helmets** · 10-09-2012, 06:38 AM

Ultimately, anything was possible. Any number of scenarios could explain why and how modifications were done to helmets. It really comes down to what each individual collector is comfortable looking for in the helmets they buy. As Doug said, are you comfortable with a reissued helmet having bent pins, etc? some of the most exciting helmets are reissue helmets.

**geelong** · 10-09-2012, 07:10 AM

helmet where like shovels just a tool to be worn or used. not much thought, by the guys wearing them, went into who made them or what parts went into them. just aslong it could be fixed when it was needed. thats my thought. i had helmet in my hand. just got it out of my car about a week ago, and this realy old guy stoped and looked at it. he could hardly speek english i think he said i wore one of them we would put them in the ground and sh#t in them but he could have said i wore one of them all they where good for was putting them on the ground and sitting on them. hopeing he might come back and knock on my door with his ha ha

**geelong** · 10-09-2012, 07:22 AM

but i was reading why helmet parts where marked is so when parts like chin strap broke they would right down the maker or the code and keep a file on each maker to know whos products was more better in the field, dont no if this is true or not. and that paint was sent out to the field, and that decals were sold in shops in germany, ie chemist but dont no if they were only for civil helmets or not .