Italian Navy M33 "Aerofonista"

[OldSteel]

Morning everyone,
today I wanted to show you the "talker" variant of M33 helmet, born for the ship crews of Regia Marina during the WW2, but it was widely used even after the war, probably until the 70s.
This model is called by "Aerofonista", but really the aerophone operators were already wearing their canvas helmet, this:
Un marinaio con uno strumento di rilevazione acustica guarda verso il cielo - piano americano - Reparto Guerra - Scheda fotografica - Istituto Luce - Cinecittà - Senato della Repubblica

so it was mainly used by "artillery shooting directors" and "naval artillery personnel".
It is predisposed to receive a headphones and microphone, and with a compact size it provides good protection for its users.
The shell is the one of a standard M33, whit gaps cut out at the side, assembled with a two-piece liner and a new four-point chinstrap.
My example is a "Regia Marina", post-war reconditioned in the Navy's Arsenal, using materials other than those used on Army helmets.
The rivets are of the closed type (no air vents) and applied in the opposite direction.
It has been painted in matt green, but under the scratches it is still possible to see the Regia Marina “grey-green” color of the original painting (see the last two photos).
Is marked "M 54" on the back flap.

Thanks for looking
Roberto

[MAP]

Wow Roberto. What a great variation. Assume these are quite rare, even if post war refurbed???. I didn't even knew they existed!

[OldSteel]

Wow Roberto. What a great variation. Assume these are quite rare, even if post war refurbed???. I didn't even knew they existed!

Hi Micheal,
certainly not very common and little known outside of Italy; a few years ago there were many Navy surplus helmets on the market, between M33 standard and talker variant, obviously talkers were produced in much smaller quantities and in any case it is becoming increasingly difficult to find complete and in good condition examples.
Also for this model of helmet, being made in the Navy Arsenals, there are many variants:
-Side cut with raw edges or slightly bent upwards
-Shell of various green color shades; matt, satin or gloss
-Leather liner in ivory color or natural leather of various shades
-Chinstrap made of natural color leather or gray-green leather

However, it is really hard to find a axamples completely WW2, because this helmet was not an individual endowment but was part of the ship's equipment, for this reason they were hardly brought home from the sailors; they were all reconditioned in the post-war period.



Regards
Roberto

[ruddersrangers44]

First for me too,learn something new everyday,thanks Roberto for showing this rarely seen variant.............

[OldSteel]

First for me too,learn something new everyday,thanks Roberto for showing this rarely seen variant.............

Thanks Jake,
a pleasure for me to share this information, I noticed that this M33 variant had never been treated on the Forum and it seemed a good idea to put a thread on it.

Regards
Roberto

[rra227]

Neat helmet. Rich A. in Pa.

[OldSteel]

Neat helmet. Rich A. in Pa.

Thanks Rich!

[AZPhil]

That's awesome. First time for me also.
Thanks for sharing that with us Roberto

Semper Fi
Phil

[OldSteel]

That's awesome. First time for me also.
Thanks for sharing that with us Roberto

Semper Fi
Phil

Hi Phil, it's always a pleasure to share for me!
Thanks to you and other Friends who appreciated this information.

Regards
Roberto