Iraqi Para Helmet & Burlap Covered M80 Brought Back From Desert Storm in '91

[War is Peace]

Gentlemen:

I have been a visitor here for a long time and I have decided to take a more participatory role by joining the forum, and several others, and sharing photos and some of my experiences as a lifelong collector of militaria and guns.

I started as a child in the '60s and my primary interest has always been the firearms and militaria of the enemies and ideological opponents of the United States, especially items that were captured and brought-back by our GIs.

I'll be stopping by many of the sub-forums, but I'd like to start by posting a few photos of a couple of Iraqi helmets that were brought-back from Desert Storm in '91.











Before Operation Desert Storm had even ended, I had put out the word to all my dealer contacts and fellow collectors that I was interested in purchasing any Iraqi militaria that came back with our soon to return soldiers. I made my first purchase in June of '91 and a few more that summer, and by later that fall I was well on the way to building a nice Gulf War collection. I was a very active buyer for the rest of the '90s and only stopped intensely collecting when we went back to Iraq in 2003.

The vast majority of my collection, literally 95% of it (consisting of hundreds of uniforms, helmets and huge piles of web gear), has been packed away in storage for more than 15 years. Many of the boxes have not been opened in more than 20 years and I recently decided that it was time to reacquaint myself with my old collection. I plan to take photos as I go and I'll be glad to share them here if the membership would be interesting in seeing them.

And I have plenty of stories, the trials and tribulations of collecting Iraqi and Desert Storm militaria from the very beginning, if you are interested in reading how it used to be in the "old days." *

Most everything is still wrapped and boxed, but here's a photo of Iraqi "Eagle" pistol belts that aren't buried:

[Adrian Stevenson]

Welcome!

I look forwards to seeing and hearing more.

Cheers, Ade.

[Opex]

I am very glad you decided to post these fantastic Helmets , equally as a very keen collector myself of Iraqi used helmets all the more so.

I would be interested to find out more about the winged insignia painted on the M-90 model. The burlap covered M-80 is also a gem, thanks for showing and I look forward to seeing more of these fascinating pieces from your collection.

[SteveR]

Very nice to see.

[James C]

a warm welcome to the forum and a great introduction ,youve posted some very nice helmets i really look forward to viewing more from your collection ,can i ask if possible to see more of the internal writing and symbols on the white m90 please,it looks to have been overpainted green and then back to white again ,very unusual to see and as this model is originally moulded in white, it certainly makes for an interesting helmet cheers james

[Steelhead10]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting some very nice items, I also look forward to seeing more from your collection

Matt

[War is Peace]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate the welcome wishes.

And James, I do have more photos of the markings inside the M90 para helmet and I'll post them soon. If anyone is able to provide a translation I would be most appreciative.

Until I have the opportunity to upload those interior helmet shots, you might enjoy the following images that I already have on Photobucket.

As I mentioned just about all my Desert Storm items are still packed away, but I do have some old 35mm photos of a few Iraqi helmets and uniforms. Unfortunately the photos are not dated, but I'm almost certain they were taken in 1993 based on some family photos that I had stored in the same envelope.

I apologize for the image quality, but the original photos were not that great to begin with and scanning them at only 200 dpi surely didn't help. I'll take better photos when I begin to open boxes.










I know this is the International Helmet sub-forum and I don't want to break the rules, but the scanned uniform photos are already uploaded so I might as well share them:




















I did not see a more appropriate sub-forums here for pieces of "International" militaria other than helmets. Is there a better forum to use for sharing and discussing Iraqi and Desert Storm militaria? If I need to delete the uniform photos, please let me know and I'll be glad to do so.

Thanks!

[James C]

very nice collection indeed i like the pasgt style iraqi helmet ,is it stamped HHD by any chance ,as for translating arabic im afraid i cant the unit marked m80's are really interesting and id like to see close ups of the split triangle mark on the tan m80 ,can you recall what the colours were before you put it into storage ,i also like the tan overpainted export polish wz 50 ,very nice ,as for the uniforms the best place here is to either post your collection in its entirety in the collections section or post up the uniforms in the" show us your post 45 camo" thread ,there will be a few gents over there that would love to see them i look forward to you opening your storage boxes thanks james

[austromunga]

liking your collection "WisP"!!!! and as James says the camo guys would really dig your collection too!!!
I can't help noticing the similarity between your superb collection of Iraqi Eagle belts and my own mint condition 83' dated maker marked Austrian army (Bundesheer) Eagle belt!!
can you tell me.....do your belts have any makers marks at all!!???

[War is Peace]

very nice collection indeed i like the pasgt style iraqi helmet ,is it stamped HHD by any chance ,as for translating arabic im afraid i cant the unit marked m80's are really interesting and id like to see close ups of the split triangle mark on the tan m80 ,can you recall what the colours were before you put it into storage ,i also like the tan overpainted export polish wz 50 ,very nice ,as for the uniforms the best place here is to either post your collection in its entirety in the collections section or post up the uniforms in the" show us your post 45 camo" thread ,there will be a few gents over there that would love to see them i look forward to you opening your storage boxes thanks james

James:

Thanks again for your kind comments!

The Iraqi PASGT helmet does have the little white HHD sticker inside but I'm sorry to say that I don't recall the other markings. I promise to take good photos when I come upon this helmet in my recovery mission. It's one of my favorite Desert Storm pieces and the only PASGT style helmet that I ever encountered. I paid $75 for it in 1992 or perhaps 1993.

Based on my experience, for whatever it's worth, I'd wager that the vast majority of these helmets in the US came back following the 2003 invasion. In my opinion, Iraqi militaria that can be documented as having been brought-back from the first Gulf War is more desirable, and consequently more "valuable" than items that came back later. But that's just my personal opinion and preference and we can save that potentially turbulent discussion for another day!

And thanks for the heads-up concerning the other forums. I will give them a try soon.