POLISH WW2 Adrian Badge ,GENUINE or FAKE ?????

[arrestingu]

Hi ,
Just bought a WW2 Adrian Helmet used by Polish forces. Would like to know if the helmet plate is genuine ?? the aging and condition matches the rest of the piece, but hay ho I have a 14 day gaurentee so if the plates wrong would love to know asap.
If its a good one I will keep .
Thanks
Steve

[Gary J]

Could you post a complete picture of the helmet, so that a model type can be determined.

Cheers

Gary J.

[arrestingu]

hi garry,
further pics
cheers
steve

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi Steve,

The M26 was used by the Poles in France post Sept.39 campaign, so I’ll move this thread to the appropriate section.

This appears very much like a reproduction eagle plate. They are increasingly finding their way onto original helmets and then onto the market. I’ve seen several of these listed on German ebay over the past two years.

Genuine surviving M26 Polish use helmets are exceedingly rare. I’m away from my reference sources so will need to post more details and a final verdict later.

Regards,
Tony

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi again Steve, OK, I've had a moment to review my scant information on these PSZ M26's and can say that the eagle plate here is not one of the known copies (at least to me) now on the market. The differences are very subtle, but they are definitely there. So your hemet has (somewhat surprisingly!) cleared the first major hurdle. Hope we can get some more input from others before the 14 day guarantee period is up.

Do you have any information on the past history of this particular helmet?

Regards,
Tony

[IvanPutski]

...Of course one would have to examine this helmet in person, but I concur with Tony's preliminary assessment.

[A.J. Zawadzki]

Hi again Steve,

Mr. Putski is our resident expert on PSZ helmets, so his cautious endorsement of my comments carries considerable weight.

Ivan, no doubt the value of a hands-on inspection cannot be overemphasized, and you’ll agree that being armed with experience from handling known genuine examples is essential to be able to know exactly what characteristics to look for. The only M26 dressed in Polish garb of this type purported to be genuine that I‘ve ever seen is a weak monochrome photo contained in the Kijak reference. By chance do you have any other images to share with us?

Cheers,
Tony

[IvanPutski]

Tony, I think so, but my photos are all locked in my crashed laptop and I do not know when I will be able to access them again, but when I can, I will try to accommodate your request.

[arrestingu]

Looking at the badge , I believe is genuine. what bothers me is the lack of shadowing behind the badge, very little , the lack of dust or aging around the badge. I have an original Ww1 polish helmet which has its original badge and this is the case with that, untouched . There is a suttle aging difference in appearance between badge and comb....
it is a hard one to call.....
steve

[arrestingu]

...its from a liquidated collection.