M35 or M40 Stahlhelm?

[Didier]

Hello,

Here are a few pictures of the German helmet I bought for a mere 350 francs some twenty years ago in Toulouse, in the South of France. I later added a pair of chin straps, which I recently discovered were not authentic but the interior is original. The helmet had been painted a horrible green so I did my best to restore it to its 'original' state. My attempt was not entirely successful, I must admit

Best regards,

Didier

[KradSpam]

Hi Didier. It looks like a reissued M35. That is, an M35 that was refurbished at a depot, repainted to later war specs of textured paint, no decals and a new liner if needed. From the inside and exposed base layer of paint on the left side, this one may have been a Luftwaffe helmet.

Hope this helps,
Andy

[Didier]

Wow, thanks a lot, Andy! I did not expect such a complete analysis of my helmet. I always thought there were the traces of a decal on the left hand side, though, because the remaining green paint seems to be in the shape of the typical German helmet decals.

Cheers,

Didier

[Glenn66]

That decal outline does appear to be Heer to my eyes.

[Didier]

Which seems to confirm Andy's theory, then...

On second thought (and after having had a look at my documentation), this does not look anything like the outline of a Luftwaffe eagle!

[Didier]

You were absolutely right about the liner : I checked and saw the date 1941 on the liner band, so the liner must indeed have been replaced, as this is a M35 helmet