greek m34 - 39 helmet

[geelong]

yea I still have this one. been thinking about getting another one that has popped up for sale down my way. this one has its original paint. but might have missed that one. cheers

[Taylor820]

Do any of you know if during the Italian occupation of Greece the Italians seized Greek M1934/39 and repainted them? I found a Greek M1934/39 with a weird dark green colour.

Cheers,
taylor820

[Greg Pickersgill]

Do any of you know if during the Italian occupation of Greece the Italians seized Greek M1934/39 and repainted them? I found a Greek M1934/39 with a weird dark green colour.

After WW2, late 40s early 50s, there was a lot of refurbishment of older helmets for the Greek forces. This is the time when many ex-British and other Mk2 helmets were given Greek linings, the brown leatherette ones with the bright aluminium cradles, and one-piece leather chinstraps.. These helmets were usually painted a dark green, much darker than the original prewar Greek colours. (NB - the actual colours did vary in shade a bit, from what I have seen, but all darker than the prewar)

Included in this refurbishment were many of the M34/39, sometimes just repainted, sometimes requiring new linings, which were the same as the refurbished Mk2s, mounted with a new nut&bolt at the crown. It's quite possible you have one of these.

I don;t have a refurbed 34/39, but here's a Mk2 for illustration. (The two pics are not the same helmet, and I should say the liner one looks a lighter green because of the bright light used for the picture)