Stalen helm model 34

[James C]

Just to share another interesting Helmet from my collection ,the chinstrap has in my opinion has been period repaired with some form of blue webbing material of origin unknown but does retain in part an original short leather section and buckle ,the replacement strap has a single rivit termination of which is in keeping material and construction wise with the originals rivits shown on the leather short strap ,any additional information regarding this style helmet would be great but unless proved to the contary believe issued and used by netherlands police forces

[Steelhead10]

Very nice helmet James, and not one I've often seen before , so thanks for posting it

[James C]

Thanks Matthew ,it sure does have a striking design and one that really caught my eye ,very similar to my Romanian m73 infantry helm in profile

[emileverbunt]

Hello James,

This helmet is a civil version of the KNIL helmet (Royal Netherlands East Indies = Indonesia). They are very common in The Netherlands.

These helmets were produced during WW2 for use by police and CD. The liner got progressively worse and the chinstrap is original WW2 vintage. The factory (VerBlifa) economised on leather.

Have a look at this site: Civiele model KNIL helm / Civil model KNIL helmet

Cheers,
Emile

[Greg Pickersgill]

This helmet is a civil version of the KNIL helmet (Royal Netherlands East Indies = Indonesia). They are very common in The Netherlands.

These helmets were produced during WW2 for use by police and CD. The liner got progressively worse and the chinstrap is original WW2 vintage. The factory (VerBlifa) economised on leather.

Thanks for sorting that out, Emile, I knew it wasn't a proper M34 but I wasn't getting my thinking clear on it.

Your reference seems to be redirecting back to this page (how did that happen?). I tried putting it in again in the first version of this message and exactly the same thing happened. Then I tried just putting in the URL and it still did the same thing. There must be something wrong here.

The page is titled dutchhelmets.nl . James, just copy that to your browser and then use the menu.

[James C]

Thank you Emile and much appreciated for the information and nice to hear mine is a ww2 vintage example ,i notice an example near enough identical to mine on the link you shared ,more so the liner with the same leather short strap and blue webbing chinstrap .Here i am thinking mine was a one off ,very interesting ,i also note the other example has a nape section folded downward not unlike my Romanian m73
kind regards
James

[James C]

Thanks Greg I'm now wondering if i need to re-title the thread as its not an m34 ,in contrast i can see that this KNIL civil helm has a more cut down /shorter dome profile with a less pronounced rear apron to the m34 but still as a collector of world helmets still worth having in the collection ,what are your thoughts
all the best
James

[Greg Pickersgill]

Well, I'm quite a fan of Dutch helmets despite the fact that getting decent ones is so expensive (therefore I don't have many...). I do have at least fair examples of the three main types and I can certainly say that if you set them all down together on a flat surface you may be surprised at how different they really are. And then of course you get into the subtypes and refurbishments and slightly different liners - there's a whole collection to be built, given enough time, money and space (none of which I have!).

Actually one of the first helmets I bought when I really got interested back in 1999 was a repainted M27. I actually bought it under the impression is was Romanian, though fortunately I soon got in contact with a better-informed collector who told me the more true story. I now believe it is a police (Mareechaussee ?) issue, done during the war. Original liner and straps, and obviously the original factory green inside. Perhaps Emile can give us a better description.