BGB66 Made Helmet M17/V20 Czechoslovak reissued

[Nozo410]

Hello everyone,

Today I want to show one of my most favorite Helmets. It's an Austro-Hungarian made M17 Shell Maker Stamp BGB66, it has the Lot Number B 1 4 on top. This Helmet was made during WW1 and got reissued in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovaks would usually rivet an Adrian style comp on most of their German and Austrian Helmets. In 1934 they removed the Comb because it didn't had any practical use, the ones that survived with comb are very scarce Helmets to find, there was also a lightweight parade version of the VZ20. Even with removed comb I would say this Helmet is more on the uncommon side because most of them got reissued by the Germans after the annexation of Czechoslovakia. Mine has a typical Czechoslovak 20s 30s liner and this brush paint is pretty typical for Czechoslovak Helmets of the 30s. the Chin Strap looks period correct but I never saw this exact type on other Czechoslovak Helmets that I saw so far. Surely a helmet that definitely screams History, it survived in this mid 1930s state for almost 80 years now.










Here are also some period pictures from my own collection.





Sources I used for some of the informations:
Přilba vz. 20 | Delostrelectvo.cz
VHU PRAHA
Collect-Helmets | Czechoslovak Helmets - Period photos
World War Helmets - Casque Vz 20

Thank you for your attention.
Best regards
Nozo

[Jack59]

Very nice helmet Nozo, those Czech typical rivets gives the helmet a lot of character. Thanks for the period photos, it complements the helmet nicely.

Regards
jack

[Nozo410]

Thank you Jack, the Split Pins are a good giveaway for it being Czech but sometimes they also come with WW1 style Split Pins. I'm glad that you like the period photos.

Best regards
Nozo

[FULMINATA]

Hi Nozo,
very nice helmet. Are you a Czech or how comes the interest for such a helmet? The old photos are very interesting!

Btw. I like the shape of the early pre war visor caps czechoslovakian soldiers have worn. They are slightly different to those of other armies. These caps style has slightly the spirit of the early beginning of the century inside from a fashion point of view. Or to say it in other words, they still have this stiffness of mens fashion of the bell epoche.

Many Greetings,
Martin

[Nozo410]

Hi FULMINATA,

I'm German and I started Military collecting in 2022, I became interested in Military stuff from History Class, Games and Anime. I did start buying Helmets at my local Flear Market and one of the Helmets was a Post War used Austro-Hungarian Helmet that got me in Austro-Hungarian collecting. I got interested in collecting Czechoslovakia from Youtube Videos about the Slovak Legion in WW2, I tried to get my Hands on a Slovak Helmet and I got one with Post War Cross and blue Line. I believed for some time that it was an Original Slovak Helmet until I saw the ones on Brendon's Helmets that look different and I started to realize how scarces the Slovak Helmets actually are. The Helmet that Really got me in the End in collecting Czechoslovak Helmets is the VZ30, it is in my opinion such a unique Helmet that made also some History in the Spanish Civil War. After several VZ30 I got this VZ20 without Comb and a VZ28. I'm still looking for a VZ20 with Comb but they go in a pretty scarces direction.

I saw some Czechoslovak Visor Caps on Czech Action Sites and Photographs. I don't know much about Visor Caps but I think they look very cool, I will definitely pick one up in Future.

Best regards
Nozo

[FULMINATA]

Hi Nozo,

nice to hear about your interest and the helmets you have! I am from Prague. I remember a website where someone posted painted slovak helmets. They were all fake. It was just for safety reasons for other collectors to be careful. These helmets are definitely hard to get. As soon as it gets into painted helmets you can assume the most are fakes. (have seen yesterday 2 fake US M1 helmets on german ebay, one is a 3panel medics helmet XD ) Because such helmets would be even without us collectors very rare. But now most of the stuff is sitting in collections. Have you also seen czech police helmets? They are very beautiful. They are also very scarce and when popping up on ebay Germany they sometimes fetch fancy prices as the czechs living outside of Czech Republic have way more money to spend and less possibilities to buy it in Czech Republic. My Great-Grandfather was a Czechoslovakian Legionary. After coming home from Russia he became a Četník, or to say it in german, ein Gendarm, also ein Polizist der damaligen Zeit (I speak german, too). He was a very tall guy and was called when all the peasents in the pub, drunk as they were started to rage.

Many Greetings, Martin

[AndyM35]

A very nice example in great condition Nozo! I don’t know a lot about these helmets so it’s good to start seeing some posts on them. It’s obvious you are a dedicated collector who has put a lot of time into expanding your knowledge which is great to see. It’s a wonderful hobby where we never stop learning, and it’s great to have you along for the ride.

Andy

[Nozo410]

Hi Nozo,

nice to hear about your interest and the helmets you have! I am from Prague. I remember a website where someone posted painted slovak helmets. They were all fake. It was just for safety reasons for other collectors to be careful. These helmets are definitely hard to get. As soon as it gets into painted helmets you can assume the most are fakes. (have seen yesterday 2 fake US M1 helmets on german ebay, one is a 3panel medics helmet XD ) Because such helmets would be even without us collectors very rare. But now most of the stuff is sitting in collections. Have you also seen czech police helmets? They are very beautiful. They are also very scarce and when popping up on ebay Germany they sometimes fetch fancy prices as the czechs living outside of Czech Republic have way more money to spend and less possibilities to buy it in Czech Republic. My Great-Grandfather was a Czechoslovakian Legionary. After coming home from Russia he became a Četník, or to say it in german, ein Gendarm, also ein Polizist der damaligen Zeit (I speak german, too). He was a very tall guy and was called when all the peasents in the pub, drunk as they were started to rage.

Many Greetings, Martin

Hi FULMINATA,

I'm glad that I can share my collection here. I want travel to Prague and Brno in Future. I saw like 10 of fake Slovak Helmets on Ebay in the last years, it is a Helmet that thought me that I usually don't go for Decals anymore because most of them are fake or Fantasy. Btw did you ever saw this type of Helmet, because I'm currently looking for more informations about this one, I bought it from a Slovak seller: Hungarian M15 (M16) civil defense helmet . Czech Police Helmet, from a quick search I found this one, all the others that it shows me are VZ32 with Feldgrau Paint and Decals, do you have any Pictures of the Czech Police Helmet? Original Pre-WWI Era Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Felt Police H – International Military Antiques . The Czechoslovakian Legion is such an interesting topic, I only watched a few Youtube Videos of it and I saw some old Photographs, for me it sounded like the perfect Topic for a Movie. I honestly only know the Word Gendarm from watching Louis de Funes with my Dad. It's always interesting to hear the Stories of Ancestors, my Great Grandfather died end of WW2 as a Sanitätsgefreiter, my Grandma did throw most of the old Photographs away what is just sad because all the History is just lost. The only stuff I know about him is that what my Dad has told me.

Best regards
Nozo

[Nozo410]

A very nice example in great condition Nozo! I don’t know a lot about these helmets so it’s good to start seeing some posts on them. It’s obvious you are a dedicated collector who has put a lot of time into expanding your knowledge which is great to see. It’s a wonderful hobby where we never stop learning, and it’s great to have you along for the ride.

Andy

Thank you Andy,

I'm glad that I can show it here. I'm trying to get my Hands on other examples and on the very difficult to find VZ20 with Comb. I try my best to gather Informations but I need to say that there is still a lot to uncover. Keep collecting and learning, a Forum is a great place for that because the Informations a writen down and archived for others to see. I own around 100 Helmets so I think I have a lot to show in Future.

Best regards
Nozo