IDF ISRAELI helmets arab israeli wars, 1967 - 1982

[Jerry B]

Might as well add my Israeli M1 to the thread ,the chinstrap looks to have been fitted incorrectly but shows signs it's been like that a long time Attachment 1323242Attachment 1323243Attachment 1323241

Nice James. Is it a m1 conversion or an Israeli made example?

[James C]

Thanks Jerry ,the shell has no markings as far as i can tell so i reckon Israeli made and the Tama liner nape strap shows a mid 1980's ink stamp

[Jerry B]

Thanks Jerry ,the shell has no markings as far as i can tell so i reckon Israeli made and the Tama liner nape strap shows a mid 1980's ink stamp

James, my Israeli made example is stamped on the shell and on the liner

[Tinhat]

One more for the pile.

At the back end of last year I saw this photo of an IDF soldier, in Jerusalem at Six Day War wearing a French M51 liner. It got me thinking that I had never seen an M51 that hadn’t had the Israeli made liner fitted (shown in post #4, #8 and #23)



Since then I’ve been casually searching M51s eBay and to my pleasant surprise, this one came last week.
Aside from having no chinstraps it is factory finish. There is a name in Hebrew but the real identifier is the yellow letter ‘P’ in Hebrew stamped in both shell and liner.
I have no idea what this stands for but I’ve only ever seen it on M51s, it appears to be present on all shells that have the original paint inside. You can see in in post #4 and#23 but #8 has been repainted.









The photo incidentally shows a different chinstrap but no additional rivets for mounting – another variant to hunt down…..

Steve

[James C]

Lovely example Jerry and great to see the IDF stamp in such great detail ,mine is certainly devoid of such a stamping in this area ,Steve the French M51 is such a nice find ,i have a similar example that i feel could well be Israeli issue but has no visible Hebrew stamp present but on other forum venues it has been hinted it could be Israeli Used ,i did pick up a very nice used Mitznefet which i was very pleased to find

[Tinhat]

Steve the French M51 is such a nice find ,i have a similar example that i feel could well be Israeli issue but has no visible Hebrew stamp present but on other forum venues it has been hinted it could be Israeli Used

Hi James, can you add the link to the other forum review, I would be interested to understand the reason for considering it Israeli used, I'm not passing judgement, as my collection moves increasingly Arab / Israeli focused I'm trying to pick up information wherever I can.
No mitznefet for me yet, I'm trying not to open that door to another area and more variants that I 'have' to have.
Thanks
Steve.

[James C]

Hi Steve I'll Pm You to explain in greater detail about the other venue,i know Saudi Arabia also used the M51 so another possibility of this one's use and might well explain it's patina wear from extreme high temperatures ,there are additional ink stampings on the chinstrap which might give more clues or maybe just the original french stampings I'm not really certain

[Tinhat]

Thanks James, I spotted the stamp on the strap yesterday, the diamond I think is a the Frank manufacturers stamp (all be it on a different manufactures shell), the two round stamps do look very similar to the IDF stamp.
Steve.

[James C]

This Israeli "Ritukh" modified Tank Helmet combination came as an original paired set ,With help from a good forum Friend ( Red stalker) i now know the shell to Be US Parish M1 ,it has Vietnam Period Hard wear with the anchor marking, the P-64 liner is a Marmac Industries example showing a webbing date stamp of 1972 so perhaps seen some use during the Yom Kippur War although the liner band is dated 1973 ,i notice it has a black ink marking on the rear neck guard as it's a surplus item ,from my limited research this type of helmet could well of seen use in the Golan Heights although i can't confirm 100% ,i added a spare IDF net and goggles for display purposes

[Tinhat]

That is a very nice helmet James and one that is still a gap in my collection. My understanding of this helmet is that it was developed post Six Day War as a replacement for the Israeli made M38 for AFV drivers - those that has their head outside the vehicle who suffered heavy casualty count - one of the requirements was it being able to use the M1 shell as additional protection. Being made from the modified Tama liner it was probably cheaper also. I don't think it has a long service, '73 most front line armored units were using the more modern US helmets.

Jelaous!

Steve.