Polish Wz 50 Civil Defence "Wujek"

[Gunny Hartmann]

Ex Polish army Wz 50 handed over for use by Civil Defence (Obrona Cywilna) based at the "Wujek" coal mine in Silesia, on the 16th December 1981 nine workers Solidarity members were killed by the Special Platoon of ZOMO Zmotoryzowane Odwody Milicji Obywatelskiej (Motorized Reserves of the Citizens' Militia). A very sad day in Polish history but is thought to be one of the events that brought about the downfall of communism in Poland.

A pretty uncared for lid, the liner and chin strap were very dry and brittle so i used a leather preservative on them and now they are quite supple, the rest of the lid was filthy and took a few hours to clean up. It might be seen as a mundane Civil Defence helmet by some, but i'm more than happy with it. James C has a similar example!...

[James C]

Very nice example Paul and great pictures too ,you know my example has a very stiff chinstrap and i might well take a similar approach now you mention using a leather preservative ,could you recommend one for us please if possible on here or via PM
Can i ask what date your example is showing
Thanks for sharing
James

[Gunny Hartmann]

Very nice example Paul and great pictures too ,you know my example has a very stiff chinstrap and i might well take a similar approach now you mention using a leather preservative ,could you recommend one for us please if possible on here or via PM
Can i ask what date your example is showing
Thanks for sharing
James

I cant find a date on it James. As for the preservative search for Mink oil on ebay, it's bloody good stuff!...

[37Webbing]

I find a certain beauty in the mundane, and own more than my share of that sort of items.
Items most would see as 'ordinary' or perhaps even borderline uninteresting Each to their own.

A very nice helmet!

I can recommend 'Fiebing's Golden Mink Oil' - Leather Preserver.
It has worked very well with old leather from the 1940s (vegetable tanned).
I don't now how well it preforms with chrome tanned leather (or similar).

[James C]

Thank you both Paul and 37 webbing for the recommendation ,i will give it a go ,I recently set up my Warsaw pact /Soviet steel helmet grouping

[James C]

I added a net some time ago for display purposes but noticed on further inspection something i had missed when i first picked up this example and something that had eluded me only up until a couple of months ago ,this periodical folded into the liner and on further inspection noted the date was one month after the the tragic event that took place the previous year,also the date stamp normally found on the inner crown has been painted over in a circular manner so possibly something that was done for helmets passed over for civil use but i can only speculate

[Tinhat]

Missed this the first time around, great helmets, I've never seen one before.
It looks like they both have the painted circle so so I think your theory is credible James, I can't think of any other reason to do it.

Its a bit disturbing that 80s is history, I remember when it was the present

Steve.

[James C]

Thanks Steve and it took me a bit of time to track down the thread after i spotted the periodical ,funny how helmets in your collection for some time can still throw up the odd surprise on closer inspection

[Tinhat]

Thanks Steve and it took me a bit of time to track down the thread after i spotted the periodical ,funny how helmets in your collection for some time can still throw up the odd surprise on closer inspection

Funny you should say that, I was looking at a beret in my collection yesterday and a medal ribbon and qualification pin fell out of the fold, no idea how that hasn't happened before.