Hungarian M50 - Some Comparative Pics

**Fabe** · 07-01-2015, 09:45 PM

I scanned in a couple of my original 'pre-1956 Hungarian revolution' photos of Hungarian troops with M50 helmets

1956 April - Parade with special "parade helmets" (feat. Hungarian tri-color decals) - btw., all M50 helmets were designed with these decals at the beginning, but after manufacturing a few thousand of these, they realized; those decals were perfect "bullseye" for the enemy - so these helmets were demoted to "parade use only". Most of these decaled helmets were destroyed after 1956 - so if anyone finds one, get it!

( I have 3 of these in my collection )

...and one of mine:

Here are some anti-aircraft troops dated around 1950-1956 - by this time, not only the helmet, but the uniforms were 'Soviet-ized" - which was a bad move, even according to the Soviet army advisers. By throwing out all things Hungarian - the people hated the soviet style uniforms, mostly that they were not comfortable, some were poorly made - and were verymuch was "hurting" the Hungarian Nation's pride.
So after the 1956 revolution, all these pre-1956 uniforms were scrapped - making way to a more modern line of Hungarian uniforms which was loosely based on a mix of Hungarian WW2 and USA / British WW2 uniforms.
So these pre-1956 uniforms are also highly sought out pieces by collectors - I'm lucky enough to own a few of these...

Cheers,
Fabe

**prcachia** · 08-24-2018, 07:39 AM

H i guys, the interest in the Hungarian helmets in this forum is unbelievable. I just finished skimming through the tonnes of material and pictures on the topic and I'm impressed. I've got two helmets to share, an M50 and an M70. I still ain't sure about the M50... I've read that the Red Star was common, albeit not official, but they are harder to find nowadays (unless some hero decides to paint the star himself). Any idea behind this myth? My M70 comes with a reflective rectangular sticker on the front but I have no idea what it's used for. Both helmets are in good condition and I'm very happy with them. I simply love the Ssh-40 family of helmets

**Fabe** · 08-24-2018, 07:56 AM

Nice helmets!
I've come across probably hundreds of M50 helmets over the last few years here in Hungary - but never seen a hand painted red star helmet (only on ebay, which worries me a bit, that the star might be a recent addition). Officially, only the tri-colored decals (on early "parade" helmets) and plain no decal helmets existed. At first, all M50 helmets had this decal - but after some re-thinking (the decal was a good target for a sniper, etc.), these decal helmets were "reduced" to parade use only.
As for the M70, not sure about the white stripe, maybe it was a training helmet, where "attackers" and "defenders" were separated with helmet markings like this.
I do like both helmets 'thou!

**Fabe** · 08-24-2018, 08:06 AM

Here is a "winter camo" M50 I got recently. As you can see, they have painted over the decal:

**Composite** · 08-24-2018, 08:08 AM

It's always great to see more helmet posts - thank you. And for me at least, it's great to see ONE thread growing rather than starting a new one for everyones individual helmet - thank you for that too.

**Greg Pickersgill** · 08-24-2018, 08:35 AM

by prcachia

... I've read that the Red Star was common, albeit not official, but they are harder to find nowadays (unless some hero decides to paint the star himself). Any idea behind this myth? My M70 comes with a reflective rectangular sticker on the front but I have no idea what it's used for. Both helmets are in good condition and I'm very happy with them. I simply love the Ssh-40 family of helmets

I have an interest in the M50 as well (and quite a lot of them) and I don't remember ever seeing a red star on any - certainly not on any of mine, though I do have a couple with what we might call the 'parade' star (the circular Hungarian one). Was it ever official? - that is yet to be proven, I think. And even though World War Helmets site shows one with a red star I would be sceptical and think it was an attempt to fake a Russian WW2 helmet.

I can't contribute to the M70 query - no idea!

And I agree with Composite that adding to this valuable thread is a great thing - but let's not forget the other one which has loads of great info - Hungarian M50 helmet

**prcachia** · 08-24-2018, 09:18 AM

Thanks for the overwhelming response guys. I think I'll turn down the chance to aquire that M50 then. The seller has two M50s... one with the star and one without. Have them both on hold, but I try to do some homework before buying any helmet. Will opt for the plain one then. I agree with all of you. I came across many M50s with the decal on but the ones with the red star were one off, and the stars didn't match either, with rendered me suspicious. Did see the one on World War Helmets, Greg but that's one of the very few I've across, apart from those which were obvious fakes. Thanks Fabe for the photos too. With regards to the M70, that's from my collection and Fabe's training theory makes sense. As for the threads, I'm finding them more fruitful and loaded with information than the ones on the various Facebook groups I'm in. Will be posting more material on your various threads. Thanks again.

**Composite** · 08-24-2018, 09:46 AM

Noted Greg, and sorry for overlooking the even bigger thread on this topic....another classic example of too many threads on exactly the same topic to look at.