Norwegian M26 Polititropper Helmet

[OsiusGaming]

This helmet is one I have been after for over 2 years now. I present my proudest Helmet Achievement.




With many of the examples of these helmets I have seen online, the owner had written their service number on the inside. This example is no different. The service number is marked inside the helmet on both sides. However, service numbers/names are also frequently on the liner pads themselves.



It is a little hard to see, but the number is 33288

From 1943-1945, Sweden trained roughly 15,000-20,000 Norwegians as a secret military force. To hide their true nature and keep their neutrality, they referred to this group as "Police Troops". While never given the chance to see real combat, they didn't go without casualties and were a vital component to restoring order and maintaining peace in the early days of Post War Norway. Sweden also gave Denmark similar treatment, labeling the Danish as the Danish Brigade.




With only ~15,000-20,000 police troops trained and considering the fact that some of these helmets have either been converted for Civil Defense/lost to rust/never marked with an N, this makes this helmet probably the rarest one in my collection.


Interestingly in the photo above, the "N" is flipped. After looking through several hundreds of Police Troop photos, this is the only time I have seen this case.

[MAP]

Not something I've seen before. Congratulations

The photo with the reversed N is actually reversed itself. Take a look at the writing on the bottom. It is backwards.

[reneblacky]

Fantastic find! I know nothing of this organization! and I do like the Swede helmet. Thanks for the reference pictures too!

[OsiusGaming]

I figured the same thing about the photo, yet the Narvik sign in the background isn't reversed and neither is the other helmet N's, truly bizarre!

[Eschborn]

Hello,
the stencil must have been inadvertently reversed during painting...

[MAP]

I figured the same thing about the photo, yet the Narvik sign in the background isn't reversed and neither is the other helmet N's, truly bizarre!

Doh! Yes you are correct. It was late and was wrapping up. I must have been tired.

[Watchdog]

Not something I've seen before. Congratulations

The photo with the reversed N is actually reversed itself. Take a look at the writing on the bottom. It is backwards.

As the Monty Python catchphrase goes "and now for something completely different" - Very interesting helmet and info.

Re; the reversed photo, I was just wondering if this would be the effect of reversing a photo that was originally taken through a mirror?

Regards

Mark

[OsiusGaming]

Seeing as how this thread is getting way more attention than I thought it would, I'll go ahead and post more photos.

Here it is next to my wartime Swedish M37. In this overcast lighting, the two have a very, very similar color.


And here it among the rest of my Norwegian collection.


Sometimes, these helmets were used along with nets.



The police force even had their own band!


Now in the photo below, the helmet on the far left seems to have something interesting. Along with the N, there seems to be a faint shaping of where the Swedish insignia once was. This photo was taken before liberation, so sometime still during their time in Sweden.


Thanks for reading!

[OsiusGaming]

And for those interested, here's an online folder of roughly 300 photos of Police Troops I have compiled after sorting through 1000's of images. Took a long time but sure was fun!

Norwegian Police

[Tinhat]

Great helmet, I was flicking through Anders Skotte's book on Scandinavian helmets a few weeks ago thinking I would really like to own one of them.

Steve.