M40 - opinions, please!

[BlackCat1982]

A Nesteby is a quite american name, could it be the name of the vet who brought it back? SS = Staff Sergeant?

The name is not German, the spelling of Kompanie with a K, i.e. A German spelling helps little. So I would say this inscription has been added much later.

[Schwerpunkt]

I've checked Brian Ice's book on Lot Number's and for this lot the only recorded service is a SD Luft helmet, and would've been produced around 1941, early on. The colour is listed down as Rough Texture Blue Grey. This isn't gospel though, there were thousands of helmets per Lot#.

A Nesteby is a quite american name, could it be the name of the vet who brought it back? SS = Staff Sergeant?

On the wearer's left where the helmet has been scrubbed, it looks as if there was never a decal there, so could the LW decal have been removed in the field, then post war the helmet has been repainted, and a recent owner has tried to dig out a non-existent decal?

In saying this though, on the wearer's right it looks as if a decal has been there to me? A DD Polizei is possible then, and just not recorded by Brian Ice yet.

An M40 DD SS is incredibly unlikely, Brian Ice notes that the last SS DD Helmet produced by ET was early November 1940 and the lot number was 03, miles off of this one.

The front left liner pin looks loose, but the other 2 look very tight so I think the liner is original to the helmet.

This helmet has got me and everyone else very confused, I'd steer clear just for the difficulty of reselling in the future.

Regards
Harvey

Harvey be careful , you are making a whole lot of wrong assumptions based on the lot number list.
One SD Luftwaffe entry does not make this helmet Luftwaffe. There can be a mix within one lot (even size).
First of all inside color is the indicator that it is not LW , secondly shape of decals is clearly not Luftwaffe.
Also I have two DD SS in my lot number list with later lots.
So any lot number data comparisons are not useful in this case.
Eyes and having general knowledge is what works best.

[Schwerpunkt]

The name is not German, the spelling of Kompanie with a K, i.e. A German spelling helps little. So I would say this inscription has been added much later.

If the inscription is incorrect , than the helmet has nothing to offer.

[HetzersGonnaHetz]

Harvey be careful , you are making a whole lot of wrong assumptions based on the lot number list.
One SD Luftwaffe entry does not make this helmet Luftwaffe. There can be a mix within one lot (even size).
First of all inside color is the indicator that it is not LW , secondly shape of decals is clearly not Luftwaffe.
Also I have two DD SS in my lot number list with later lots.
So any lot number data comparisons are not useful in this case.
Eyes and having general knowledge is what works best.

Schwerpunkt, many thanks for the reply clearing that up. I did indicate in my original reply that the lot number includes thousands of helmets, not just this one. I am aware that as a reference it is not incredibly reliable, I only referred to it as a last resort as this helmet had me stumped. I was also aware that lots could spread over multiple sizes, this lot has two sizes just for the LW helmets produced within it alone. The 03 lot number I mentioned was in what Ice referred to as the Second Sequence of 1-9999#, in the first sequence there are lot numbers for DD SS M40s a lot higher than 03, apologies for that mistake, I scrolled too far down my pdf. My original reply was really me posing questions to grow my own knowledge rather than making points on the helmet, it just snowballed a bit after I mentioned it being a LW SD and posed my following questions with that assumption alone.

What do you believe it to be?

Kindest regards and apologies,
Harvey

[Hallibag]

Many thanks to all who’ve replied. This really is a puzzling helmet!

Here’s an idea that occurred to me late last night, that’s based on the writing inside the helmet. This theory may well be nonsense, but I feel I should put out there. Nesteby is, according to some quick Googling I’ve done, a name of Norwegian extraction. “SS” could refer to the Norwegian army rank of Stabssersjant. And, unless my eyes are deceiving me, there’s no letter “e” at the end of Kompani; correct spelling in Norwegian, but not German. Could this helmet have a Norwegian connection? We all know about the Norwegians using German helmets postwar, but these have usually been repainted and had new decals applied. Before this work was carried out, might German helmets in original paint, with German decals scraped off or overpainted, have been pressed into service?

[BlackCat1982]

It is possible, but Norwegian reissued helmets usually have no evidence of old wartime decals and also the liners tend to be taken out, the zinc liner pins replaced with brass ones. I had not noticed the spelling of Kompani so you might still be on the right track.

[Hallibag]