Greek M34/39

[MAP]

Was lucky enough to pick this helmet up at the local show. Thanks to Steve for pointing it out to me. Not easy to find in the US.

I'm no expert on these but appears to be an untouched WW2 example with correct liner, paint and chinstrap. But would love to hear from others.

The liner is stamped "Ellinikos Stratos" ("ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ") e.g. "Greek Army" around a cross and the liner size. Interesting in it looks like the liner was originally stamped as 57 but then overstamped as 59.

I've been looking for one of these for a while to complete my "Ancestry" helmet collection. Having relatives primarily from Greece and Germany (with a bit of Dutch).

[Jack59]

Great pick! One of my favorite lid. Yours has a lot of character, the restamping of the size was not rare, the size of the shell was normally stamp in black ink inside the back of the shell. The dark paint under the olive one was the original, would scratch & fall easily. So those were repainted light olive with a better paint. Thanks for showing!

[Jean Loup]

Nice helmet. I like such helmet, less know than german or US
Jean Loup

[MAP]

Great pick! One of my favorite lid. Yours has a lot of character, the restamping of the size was not rare, the size of the shell was normally stamp in black ink inside the back of the shell. The dark paint under the olive one was the original, would scratch & fall easily. So those were repainted light olive with a better paint. Thanks for showing!

Thanks Jack. So when was the light olive paint added? Pre 45? Or Post war?

[MAP]

Nice helmet. I like such helmet, less know than german or US
Jean Loup

Thanks Jean,

Yes. Not a helmet many people know much about. Hard to find nice examples too.

[Jean Loup]

I've got one :-) . I will take some pics.

[Jack59]

Hi Jean Loup, I did a mistake with the colours.The original was the light olive, airsprayed & left to air dry for 24h. The darker green paint appeared at the end of the war. Sorry about that. More than 250,000 helmets were produced. Jack

[MAP]

Hi Jean Loup, I did a mistake with the colours.The original was the light olive, airsprayed & left to air dry for 24h. The darker green paint appeared at the end of the war. Sorry about that. More than 250,000 helmets were produced. Jack

Thanks. This is more in line with what I have read.

[AndyM35]

A great example Michael! All nice and complete with a great patina.

[Tinhat]

Nice example of an underappreciated helmet. Not easy to find in original condition.

Steve.