Salty Middle East Relic

**James C** · 12-15-2016, 07:41 PM

Not entirely sure what Nation or state this M1 style helmet belonged too so I'm hoping you can help me identify it as it seems to be a hodge podge of composite parts

My plan was to pick up an infantry Israeli M1 as i know they used different liner configs including British liners and when i saw the Crusible liner i thought perhaps it could be but on further inspection i believe the metal liner banding could be polish. It Has a nice snug fit in the shell and also has four foam bumper pads ,again this backs up my theory its polish as i have a similar liner albeit for the liner fingers on my WZ 67 fibre guards helmet.
The liner pads certainly look soviet ,One pad has small swirl patterns which if im honest im not familiar with while the other two are the pebbled type like you would find on the post 1950 examples ,These have been retained within the liner band by three split pins per pad and some simple string loops
So were Israel in the habit of using Soviet/Warsaw Pact liners ?
The liner is held in place by one central bolt
My next thought was to the shell and i think judging by the swivel bails am i right in saying I can rule out it being US in origin ? besides even if there was a heat stamp you would never see it under the thick sand texture
I did think perhaps it was a West German m56 quist just going off how dented up it is ,a trait of the m56 as it was easily damaged but going off how weighty it feels my thoughts then turned to the Austrian m58 ,On Comparison though the bails sit much closer to the rim than on these so I look forward to your thoughts on it

So to recap what the heck have i got here ,Israeli ? or maybe an Irainian or Iraqi War relic or maybe something else

**Greg Pickersgill** · 12-15-2016, 11:39 PM

No real idea so far. The only thing I am certain about is that it is not Polish. It could well be a West German M56 shell as the fixings for the bails are very distinctive and correct for that. (I use the vague word 'fixings' because I can't rtemember the right one...OK, its late...might have had a drink...)

Certainly lots of M56 shells were sold to Iran. But where did the liner pads come from. Very European.

**James C** · 12-16-2016, 06:22 PM

Many thanks Greg for your thoughts so far and great to have you on board for the discussion

Thanks James

**Composite** · 12-16-2016, 07:21 PM

Mate...that's one hell of a messy helmet...but I love it! (and no...I haven't cracked the code yet...but they're coming off the shelves and getting a good compare to your pics). Greg is of course THE M1 clone expert so we may have to wait till he's worked through all his examples too.....

Are they no markings at all on the liner band?

**James C** · 12-16-2016, 08:18 PM

Thanks Composite

Great to have you on the case too ,I appreciate the help

Thanks James
P.S I'm going to start a mk6 cover thread soon

**James C** · 12-16-2016, 08:25 PM

No markings on the liner band what so ever

**cammobunker** · 12-17-2016, 07:07 AM

I'd go with German 56/Austrian 58 shell, that one almost certainly came out of Schuberth-Werk.
Th liner frame, maybe Polish but difficult to say really.
The liner pads are from a standard Soviet SsH-40 the swirly pattern is more often seen on liner pads for Ssh-68 helmets but is not unknown on earlier helmets from the 50's as well, I've seen some triangular patterns as well.
A fascinating piece. I could be Israeli I suppose but all the Izzy reworks I've seen use British-style liner, not recycled Soviet liner parts. I think it's entirely possible this is Iraq/Iran war vintage rework, frugallly using whatever is laying around the shop to push helmets out to the truth.

**Greg Pickersgill** · 12-17-2016, 09:13 AM

I believe Cammobunker is correct here. I certainly accept that the shell is either a Bundeswehr M56 or Bundesheer Stahlhelm 2, and the liner pads are *obviously* Russian once someone points it out to me. I'd also suspect that his Iran/Iraq war vintage is right, not just for the desperate sense of cannibalization but also because that was around the time the Iranians got a lot of M56 shells. I think.

**austromunga** · 12-18-2016, 06:33 PM

Hi all
Hmmmm well I can't speak about the M56 shells made by either Linnemann and schnetzer, or Schuberth.. but I can pretty much say its defiantly not a Quist.. as they "over stamped" the bail mounts during production.... leaving a very distinctive hollow in the overlapping lip part!! (see pics)
oh and the swirl leather effect fabric. very much reminds me of an old LP record case my dad used to have!!!

**battle gear** · 12-19-2016, 04:15 AM

I also think it could be one of the refurbed shells pieced together by IRAN , possibly an IRAN IRAQ WAR used piece

it looks a lot like the helmet used by this Iranian soldier , he's wearing some from of M1 style helmet and the top looks like it has a hole or possibly a rivet to secure a liner, modified M1 shells are very common in the middle east