Swedish M37-65 Helmet

[cortin]

Hello,

My name is Ismael - I just now joined the site; have lurked here for quite a while, collect a few helmets here and there.

I have a question about the Swedish M37-65 Helmets:

Why were some of these painted grey (and have the decal of the Swedish coat of arms) while some were painted olive drab.

Also, do the OD painted helmets also have the coat of arms decal?

Thanks

[James C]

hi ismael and welcome to the forum i think the moderators will move this thread over to the steel helmet section as it will be better suited there but dont worry ,its an easy mistake to make especially for a newbie ,as for your questions i would imagine grey helmets would denote civilian use ,perhaps in defence or maybe airforce,the national shield can be found on the od m37's too as far as im aware,hope this helps

[cortin]

Sorry for posting this in the wrong forum - I figured Sweden would be among "Western Allies".

Thanks for your quick response James - yes, I figured that grey would be for Civil Defense helmets... but as you suggest Air force might be the ticket.

I read somewhere that the swedish decal was only on military helmets.

Maybe someone else will chime in with more information.

Thanks again.

[James C]

your very welcome cortin ,im thinking as sweden is not aligned with nato they wouldnt be in the allied section ,i have three swedish helmets myself so can only speak for what little ive learned on them so if you learn more please share ,i could do with brushing up best regards james

[cortin]

... so if you learn more please share...

Sure will James - thanks for your response

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, and welcome! I have moved the thread for you to this section of the forum.

Cheers, Ade.

[sweguy]

Hi, as far as i'm aware the "three crowns" decal was only applied on military helmets. Some of the OD helmets have decals but most of them does not have them. But i'm not aware of which colors were used by which service branch, during the war the M37's were all grey and used by every weaponry but some of them got an olive drab brush overcoat after the war for use in the homeguard.

Hope this helps

[James C]

hi ismael ive just dug out my swedish helmets ,you can see the deliberate removal of the shield on my m37/65 for use in latvian army

[sweguy]

Interesting to see that the latvians didn't repaint their helmets (or at least not this one). Still traces of the three-crowns decal. If someone is interested in swedish helmets or other equipment, feel free to notify me and I will help you find one It's easier for me since I am swedish!

[James C]

hello sweguy ,yes apart from the decal removal both sides of which was quite a sloppy job there is no other indication or latvian issue stamp ,a shame they've been removed really my m21/18 has 2 sets of national shields ,one on top of the other but slighty offset ,this is how i noticed ,im guessing its had a repaint at some stage in its life ,nice to hear your thoughts especially since your swedish regards james