Article about: Have this M40 beaded helmet I'm planning to restore, as I'm sure it's bronce colour is post-war. I have learned that it is either a SD Heer or Luftwaffe according the Brian ice file. Seachin
Have this M40 beaded helmet I'm planning to restore, as I'm sure it's bronce colour is post-war.
I have learned that it is either a SD Heer or Luftwaffe according the Brian ice file.
Seaching for the original version of this type, have proven to be rather difficult, as it is rarely seen with a bead this small. Most others are way more larger.
So what would it originally have looked like, both in Heer as well a Luftwaffe version?
I have only seen a a few beaded helmets Heer or Luft alders. Most decaled beaded helmets have Luftschutz wings on the front or Police decals on the sides. The Police decals are usually, but not always, positioned under the vents (the first helmet that I posted has an "Austrian" Police bird). Sometimes the Police decals are reversed, and sometimes the helmet is "triple decaled", with a Luftschutz Wing on the front along with the Police decals on the sides. I have a number of these and have posted them, in no particular order. The general consensus is that beaded shells were found to have had their ballistic integrity compromised during the manufacturing process and and therefore they were not suitable for combat use. Rather than melt them down they were put in a jig and beaded, to signify that they were "seconds", and then they were surpassed out to non combat organizations. They are found in a variety of colors, blue, green, grey, tan etc. I have a lot of spare time nowadays so i search my photo files and posted a number of them that I have owned over the years to show you the many ways you can restore the piece.
You are misinterpreting the lot number list. A lot probably consists of hundreds of helmets and you are making an assumption based on 2 entries.
This helmet being beaded was only used for civil purposes so it will never have been issued to combat duty.
This would have been either a Luftschutz or one with Police decals.
There seems to be a huge misunderstanding about the usefulness of lot number lists for single helmet cross references.
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