Swiss M18/40

[Witt]

I have had what I think is a Swiss M18/40 helmet for a while. It has the granular black paint that was done after 1943. The inside of the shell does not appear to show green paint but it is hard to tell. It has the second pattern horseshoe liner with three double tongue pads. The leather is decently worn and most of it has darkened. There is also the remains of a sticker that was on the back of the helmet. No stamps or markings anywhere on the liner or the shell besides the stamp seen in the final image. I was able to view this stamp with the USB microscope as it sits on the shell interior where the horseshoe ends. Is this stamp seen on every helmet? I have not seen any mention such a mark in other Swiss M18 posts.




















Regards, Ben

[Greg Pickersgill]

Oooh, exctiting. A favourite helmet here. The first production run of the 18/40 were painted green like the original M18, but as you know this was all changed a short time later. I have only ever seen one original green M18/40 - a genuinely rare helmet.

The stamp you found is certainly interesting; I seem to remember that a different (?) stamp exists and I have found it on one or two of my M18-series helmets but I do not believe there is a stamp on every helmet. You have awakened my curiosity now - have I missed something? - and I will go to my Swiss helmets with a bright light and magnifying glass.

[JesperS]

It does look like a model 18 shell, but you need to look at the curve of the brim directly from the side to be sure. The green paint alone doesn't tell since early model 40 shells started out green as well before being repainted in 43.

[Witt]

Here is the side profile of the helmet.





You can see the granular black paint on the exterior. Some spots are a little worn. I do not actually think the paint on the interior is green. It is a faded semi-gloss or plain matte black, and I think it was always this color.

[JesperS]

Yes - definitely a model 18 shell.

For me the easiest way to tell them apart is by the curve of the brim and the depth of the skirt. The curve of the brim has a more "German" shape on the M18 and the skirt is deeper. Here is my M40 for comparison. (The angles don't match 100%, but you get the idea ...)

/Jesper

[JesperS]

I got intrigued and took a closer look at my M18 and found this stamp in the shell

[Greg Pickersgill]

There isn't much information on shell stamps of the M18 series. JP Soulier's little book (COLLECTORS GUIDE TO SWISS MILITARY HELMETS) doesn't even mention them, and doesn't go into manufacturers either. WWH - World War Helmets - Casque Modele 18 - has a few stamps but admits no knowledge of their meaning except for the Kyburz stamp, a K over IX symbol. Most interestingly WWH has nothing which resembles the two stamps detailed above. (I have somewhere - not finding it right now - a note from Canadian collector Roger Lucy who asserts that there were three or four manufacturers, doesnt name any of them except Kyburz, and also asserts (clearly wrongly as we now see) that *only* Kyburz used a shell stamp. I'll come back to that note as soon as I find it again - not much actual content but might as well be accurate.

I've checked my collection, and out of 24 five have Kyburz stamps and three have something that I am interpreting as some other stamp, possibly similar to one or other of those shown above. All of these are poorly struck (more trouble than its worth getting the USB microscope out!), and next to meaningless unless you think you know what you're looking for. For all I know the things I am seeing as 'other stamps' may be just accidental marks or defects.

The majority of my helmets have no visible stamp, which isn't surprising as there has been a lot of overpainting on many, but even those in original green show little or nothing. I do have a near-original M18 with the remnants of the original two-part chinstrap, in what remains of its original paint (very worn) and that has a partially readable Kyburz stamp, just the 'IX' part. I get the impression that putting the stamps on right or at all wasn't a high priority task.

This is all very interesting and rather exciting.