Single decal German Army helmet from St Lo.

[airwarrior]

I am more of an raf collector and dont really know much else to be honest.Recently my collection needed an army type addition so i went and got myself a British airborne helmet as i thought it kinda goes with airforce air theme does it not i can get away with it in my collection.Also my wifes great uncle was shot down in his glider on the way to Arnhem and was killed and we have his photo which we now display next to the helmet as a tribute.My army theme did not stop there i have since got a couple of tommy helmets and then the german side came calling i got myself a relic stick grenade which i thought to be iconic of the German army but was not happy with it as i didnt have a helmet.The thing is after a bit of research i didnt think my wife would take the expense of a German helmet after the para one andstupid me a few years ago i had a m35 shell 80% correct green paint 75% army eagle and 50% national decal i sold it to fund a flying helmet £100.00 quid i could kick myself as i bet someone added a liner and chin strap and sold it for a foul amount.So i just purchased this it was recently dug up in a village near St lo and out of the few that were found it is the best condition one and it was affordable.Please let me know what you think please this is as found and has not been cleaned it still has mud on do i clean it or leave it was toying with the idea of washing the mud off and trying a bit of car polish as it is solid or will it spoil it ? shall i leave it as nature turned it?

[Paul D]

Mate i've got lots of relic lids for me i';d just clean off a bit of the surplus mud and then leave it as history has left it

[John Brandon]

That is a very nice lid

[HJ-Collector]

i agree just clean the most of the mud of and display it

[GasMasksUK]

nice lid, i agree with the rest of the guys by just cleaning off some of the mud

Thanks

Danny

[Dimas]

Unfortunately I see some spots which is caused by the wet after the helmet was recovered the helmet was not properly preserved, due of that, some of the paint will be fall down

[Tom Bennett]

Hmmm,
Could be right with this one.I would however clean some mud from the inside flare to look for name and any markings.Leaving them as they were found is okay but it tends to deteriate after a while.Paint will fall off and leather will fall from the band too if not treated

Nice pick up all the same

Tom

[airwarrior]

Here is what i have done with it and it will stay this way now.Had lots of surface dust and dried on mud only doing it more damage so cleaned it in wash and wax and have applied furniture polish several times to give it a good coating and the liner i have treated the dried out bits with beeswax leather care and it seems to have done the job.After carefully looking you can see a different paint looks like a thick texture light brown that has been applied in small areas.

[airwarrior]

Then again im starting to doubt the decal after looking a few times i got this from a guy on ebay and it was covered in rust and dry mud when i got it but just cant be too carefull i guess does the decal look too minty for the condition of the helmet would it of lasted like this? i hope it is genuine but only you guys can tell me

[Adrian Stevenson]

A good clear pic of the decal is needed. Take the pic in natural daylight.

Cheers, Ade.