danish m23/41

[James C]

Many thanks for all your help on my example 37 webbing ,when i first read your post and noted you had never seen my example before i did panic slightly to what i actually purchased but reading further i understand better now ,thanks again ,james

[Gunny Hartmann]

.: World War Helmets - Casque Modèle 23/41 :.
This is a pretty good site James!...

[James C]

Thanks for your help yet again paul ,you really are the forums oracle

[37Webbing]

many thanks for all your help on my example 37 webbing ,when i first read your post and noted you had never seen my example before i did panic slightly to what i actually purchased but reading further i understand better now ,thanks again ,james

No worries. The post was perhaps a bit confusing to read through. My apologies.
I tend to be carried a bit away when dealing with one of my primary areas of collecting.
It is a shame, that most of the literature on this helmet is in Danish. It's certainly quite the language barrier to breach.

I can only stress, that your helmet is a nice honest example. Most of the M23-41's were refurbished in the 1950s and 60s, and it just adds another layer to each and every helmets long service history. However, if you need one that has not had its liner changed I would be honoured to help you out.

The Danish Weapon Historical Society (founded 1932) publishes a yearbook every year. The 2003 edition (no. 48) has a lengthy and in-depth article on the M23 helmet. It is alas in Danish. But if any of the Danish members of the forum stumbles on this post, it is worth a read.

It has some very nice pictures of the original drawings from the patent office, and some nice period photos not seen on the internet before. I will try to make a scan in the new year.

If you really want to collect these, I can reveal there is a number of different variations: (At least for the military version)

M/1923, M/1923/24, M/1924, M/1924/25, M/1924/29, M/1924/29/38, M/1924/29/39, M/1926, M/1926/29, M/1926/29/38, M/1926/29/39, M/1929, M/1929/38 and finally M/1929/39.

[James C]

Again 37 webbing some superb information regarding my example and others to which i am gratefull it is great to have your knowledge here on my thread also thanks for the kind offer regarding helping me to find an original liner version ,i will certainly keep this in mind for 2015, thanks again james

[Syd]

here's a new pickup for the shelf ,i have to say its one of the most unusual design's ive ever collected and probably ranks up there alongside my swiss m18/40 ,the steel used seems very thin and this shows in the amount of dents to the crown ,allthough black it appears to have had a repaint in its time and i wonder what the original colour might of been, it also has a strange numerical disc attached to the front ,it really does seem in superb condition if it is ww2 period and i believe post war models had a riddel style webbing liner as opposed to this leather fingered type it also has a rear hanging slot , im hoping with help from the forum members i can learn more about this genre of helmet ,my own research would suggest civil defence use ,also ive read earlier models had two rear vent holes .any help would be appreciated
thanks james Attachment 754150Attachment 754149Attachment 754148Attachment 754147Attachment 754146

I know this is a pretty dang old topic. But I just saw yours with the little dics, which mine also have.
Actually always thought it was something "home made" until I came across this.

[Greg Pickersgill]

Regarding the article that 37Webbing refers to (post 24 above), I found I was getting very imprecise translations back into Danish from "Danish Weapon Historical Society" but I eventually worked out that the organisation was actually the Vabenhistorisk Selskab - Selskabet - and they issue two periodicals, the Våbenhistorisk Tidsskrift and the Våbenhistoriske Årbøger. That latter is the annual that '37' refers to, and indeed issue 48 of 2003 contains an article by Frans Løvschall and E. Kandborg entitled "Om den danske stålhjelm m/1923", which is over 50pp so must be substantial and worthwhile.

I'm not going to say here whether or not I have found copies for sale, simply because I haven't got one myself yet. I am prepared to go through the time and effort of scanning the text and running it through translating software (my Danish is sub-basic). It won't be quick or easy, but as we all know anything but the most simple information on this helmet type is pretty much non-existent in English.

Thanks to for '37' providing the clue, and to Syd for reviving this thread.

[37Webbing]

Regarding the article that 37Webbing refers to (post 24 above), I found I was getting very imprecise translations back into Danish from "Danish Weapon Historical Society" but I eventually worked out that the organisation was actually the Vabenhistorisk Selskab - Selskabet - and they issue two periodicals, the Våbenhistorisk Tidsskrift and the Våbenhistoriske Årbøger. That latter is the annual that '37' refers to, and indeed issue 48 of 2003 contains an article by Frans Løvschall and E. Kandborg entitled "Om den danske stålhjelm m/1923", which is over 50pp so must be substantial and worthwhile.

I'm not going to say here whether or not I have found copies for sale, simply because I haven't got one myself yet. I am prepared to go through the time and effort of scanning the text and running it through translating software (my Danish is sub-basic). It won't be quick or easy, but as we all know anything but the most simple information on this helmet type is pretty much non-existent in English.

Thanks to for '37' providing the clue, and to Syd for reviving this thread.

Greg, I have a copy at home. The article is very substantial and worthwhile. With plenty of photos and references.
I'll scan a copy when I am allowed back at work. The Coronavirus is currently forcing me to work from home.

[Greg Pickersgill]

37, thanks *very* much for the offer, but there is no need to do it. I found a copy at a very acceptable price from a Danish bookseller and bought it yesterday (20th). That was the easy part...

It's the translating that's going to take the time and effort. I think it will be easier than my attempt to translate a booklet on the Polish wz.31, which was a time-consuming disaster.

I'm interested to see the explanation of all the sub-variants your original post mentioned - I'd never heard of any of them before.

Thanks again, that is a very kind offer.

[Greg Pickersgill]

I've had a copy of Våbenhistoriske Årbøger 48 for a few days now (*excellent* service from the Danish bookshop - Vejle Antikvariat – Laes dig glad! - ) and scanning, OCR, and translation is going well. Translation is mostly down to Google, as most of the very little Danish I have comes from tv dramas, but Google is rather good, even on technical terms I thought might be a problem.

In the very first paragraph I found there was an older article on the M23 in the same annual, Vol 26 for 1980 (given as 1986 in the text, which caused a *lot* of searching errors at first) and I have now ordered that from another Danish bookstore.

I intend making my English version available to those interested in the M23 and M41 types, though I have not decided exactly how this is going to work; it will be on a person-to-person basis at least at first. Please note all credit will be proeprly given to Frans Lovschall - and it will *not* be publically available unless I can contact him and get permission. No idea how to do that, right now.