Czech VZ29 / German M29 'Stahlhelm'

[pags]

Hello,

Not sure if this should be in Axis militaria - happy to repost if there's a better home for this question.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone out there knows any more about this helmet than I've managed to find on the internet? I acquired it paired with another helmet I bought at auction. A label said no more than 'Czechoslovakian'. Haivng hunted around on the internet I've learned that it is called a VZ29 or 'saltshaker' helmet (due to the ventilation holes) and also, I'm led to believe, the M29 Stahlhelm. According to this source (Devin K. on YouTube) these helmets were actually made by the Germans after they had annexed Czechoslovakia in 1938/39 so are in some ways 'German' helmets. Hence the M29 designation.

I have however also read suggestions that these helmets were used in the early 1930s - which would counter Devin K.'s version. Perhaps they have wrongly / rightly assumed that the '29' in their label means 1929?

This particular helmet looks identical to that in Devin K.'s YouTube video - other than the coour. His was more of a dark grey. Mine is an olive green. It feels quality steel, not what he described as the 'cheaper' steel apparently used by the Czechs in the M28 and M30. It has the six panelled leather liner (pointed edges not rounded) which also looks identical to the one he demonstrates, which he says emphatically is German made. Curiously it also has what looks like a paratrooper's double strap or cupped chin strap. Were they used for other purposes - I'm thinking dispatch rider maybe?

If anyone has any more light they can shed on this helmet I'm all ears.

[Tinhat]

The Vz29 refers to the year it was initially designed, not manufactured, for example the German M42 initiated in 1942 but manufactured up to the end of the war. Some designations are also collecting folklore to satisfy our need to assign some sort of model to it.

Here is a good resource for Czech helemts checo modelo 29, the we a number of versions in this period.

I'm not sure I agree with them being manufactured by the Germans, they were reissued in some capacity but this helmet, the color, strap and liner point it being a Czech manufacture. The chinstrap is standard for Czech helmets of this period. There may be an acceptance stamp under the liner.

Lastly, this is a really nice example of this helmet in great condition.

Steve.

[pags]

Thanks Steve. Appreciate the steer and the link to the 'modelo 29' page. Spot on. I think you're right, this definitely looks like one of the Czech variants on that page. Same colour, liner and chinstrap. I had a look for any stamps in the metal or on the leather - no joy - but I'll go again and use a brighter light and really get under it.

[Tinhat]

There may not be a stamp, the Vz32 normally has large clear stamps, so maybe they didn't start until later.

Here's another good site World War Helmets - Reference de casques de 1915 a nos jours. you have to register but it is worth it.

Steve.