m33 pre war helmet?

[Terry 29]

Hello everyone.
I recently bought this helmet, it seems to be a pre-war helmet but it has some issues that concern me and I would like the opinion of an expert .The first thing I noticed is that there is a defect in some parts of the paint unless it is repainted,the second thing I noticed is that the felt is not dark orange like the wartime helmets but not yellow like the post war helmets and finally the rivets on the chinstrap are not brass as they should be and if you notice the strap with the holes its wrongly placed and shorter.
I would appreciate your opinion .

[OldSteel]

Hi Terry,
as you said, it is a pre-war helmet, this model was widely used during the Spanish War, but it was still used while stocks last, even on all the various fronts of WW2, in particular on the Greek-Albanian front.
Shell, rivets and liner appear to be original, the liner is of the bleached leather type, but early production without the metal eyelets for the adjustment cord.
In my opinion, the original sage color was later covered with a darker green, the origins of which could be:
-Repainting done by the Italians starting from June 1940, as required by the regulation.
-Repainting done by the Spaniards, probably after the war for reuse by the Air Force.
In any case, I believe that in recent times the green hue has been removed, as I seem to see from the residual traces and superficial scratches.
The chin strap was shortened and riveted later.
Obviously these are only possibilities, but I see some writings inside, which if translated to identify the language, could be a useful indication.

Regards
Roberto

[Terry 29]

I took some close-up photos that might help .Unfortunately I can not understand if it is Italian or another language.

[OldSteel]

Well, I would say that it is a decidedly Italian helmet, the writing is not very clear, but I think the information is the following:
Soldier: Portolan Alfredo
1st Infantry Regiment
4th Battalion
16th Company
therefore the primary Unit should be the 13th "Re" Infantry Division.
From 1941 to September 1943 this unit was deployed on the Yugoslav Front (Slovenia) with garrison and anti-guerrilla operations.
Subsequently he returned to the national territory and participated in the defense of the city of Rome during the phases of the Armistice.
Consulting the archives, this name not appear among the fallen in the war, but I have no further information.
In conclusion: a good helmet, a real regret that the War paint has been removed.
I hope I was helpful.

Regards
Roberto

[Terry 29]

Really very useful information now we have some information about the person who wore it and it is very interesting. But I can not understand why someone wants to remove the color from a helmet at a time when it will only cause negative results. Personally, until it reached my hands, I had not noticed it from the photos uploaded by the seller, it seemed as he had removed the rust in some parts of the helmet. Anyway thank you once again for your help as always detailed in your descriptions.

[OldSteel]

Really very useful information now we have some information about the person who wore it and it is very interesting. But I can not understand why someone wants to remove the color from a helmet at a time when it will only cause negative results. Personally, until it reached my hands, I had not noticed it from the photos uploaded by the seller, it seemed as he had removed the rust in some parts of the helmet. Anyway thank you once again for your help as always detailed in your descriptions.

Hi Terry 29,
I understand your perplexity, but I believe that if the repaint was not correctly identified by its previous owner, and therefore considered as a post-war accomplishment, then it could be thought with the best of intentions, to restore it to its original condition.
To clarify the concept, I try to show you the three color shades that followed one another between 1934 and 1945.

In this example you see a situation similar to your helmet, ie: under the first "sage-green" color, covered with the "dark gray-green", an operation done on all helmets already produced as of June 1940.

In this example you see the "light gray-green" color typical of helmets of later production, during the war period.


Regards
Roberto

[MadMax14]

Hello Roberto,

Is there any chance of you having any RAL codes for the Italian helmets which you showed? I would appreciate it.

Terry I really like your helmet. I have a similar relic one with the a similar code on the shell. Problem is, as I have found out, there are no records of what the codes mean. Hopefully one day we might find out.

Thanks.

Thomas.

[OldSteel]

Hello Roberto,

Is there any chance of you having any RAL codes for the Italian helmets which you showed? I would appreciate it.

Terry I really like your helmet. I have a similar relic one with the a similar code on the shell. Problem is, as I have found out, there are no records of what the codes mean. Hopefully one day we might find out.

Thanks.

Thomas.

Hi Thomas,
to answer your question, some expert modeller of the Regio Esercito could help, however I try to give you my personal opinion, in principle the shades could be the following:
1934-1939: RAL 6033
1940 (general repainting): RAL 6028
1941-1943 (new productions): RAL 7009 with a little more green.

I repeat, that this is just my opinion, making a visual comparison with the RAL samples.

Regards
Roberto

[MadMax14]

Thank you for your reply Roberto. Sorry for the delay in replying.

Thomas.