Spanish helmets evolution from 1921 to 1985. Part 1 of 3.

[Jack59]

I'm pleased to present the evolution of Spanish helmets in my possession. While skipping the technical part I will point out something interesting about each of them. I've planned 3 parts.
Part 1: M26s & the Spanish Civil War.
Part 2: M1942/79 & US M1s Marines & paratroopers models.
Part 3: M1965 & M1985 models.




The M26 "sin ala" without wings model was not adopted. Instead it was placed into storage until sold to a foreign country. At the start of the Civil War in 1936 it was pulled out of storage and sent into action!
Note that the M26 "sin ala" has been counterfeit, the unaware could be fooled! Mine is an original because of the off-center, crooked and obvious welding marks of helmet plate among other things.
Note that the helmet badge plates started to be installed in 1943.



This model was refurbished at some point, you can tell by the replaced rivets specially the chin strap ones originally hollow. It is missing a tounge, the other ones are pretty beat up and the only trace of the felt pading are the holes from their seam on the tongues. It will remain as it is.






The M26 "con ala" with wings was the adopted helmet. Among the interesting features, one is the front tongue. You'll see 2 big cut out marks & 3 smaller ones. Your guesses are has good as mine. Former girlfriends, some kind of time lap or on the darker side, victims? Note also the different thickness of the felt padding & finally the former grey colour inside the shell.


Hey! That helmet badge is post Civil War True! They started to be installed only in 1943 but remember it's a refurbished helmet!








I did included the Czech republic's M30 helmet for the fact that it was not adopted by the Czech army & that Spain Republican government bought most the stock at the beginning of the hostilities. Mine was refurbished, hardly used by the condition of the beautiful leather work & fell under the radar to get an helmet badge plate!








Those 3 helmet models were used by both side, used also were the Italian M16 & M33, the French M26, the Soviet Ssh 36 & small batches of German M16 & M35.

I don't have every models so this is where you are more than welcome to fill the gaps, show your own Spanish helmets & join the thread while having fun. Spanish helmets are fascinating!
See you for part 2.

[TabsTabs1964]

Great helmets, nice photos and great explanation.
Thank you very much.

Regards
Santi

[Jack59]

Thanks Santi, it's great to get the helmets out of their loneliness, expose them & in the process learn about them a bit more. Jack

[Aldo]

Great thread Jack, I'm looking forward to seeing part 2. Here are my Spanish lids

[Jack59]

Thanks Al for the comments and for the great addition of your helmets. I'm always amazed by the refurbished ones and the different kind of repairs done! I've noticed the hollow rivets helmets and your helmet with what I believe is a Police stenciled badge. Great stuff! Thanks again. Jack

[Greg Pickersgill]

Interesting thread, certainly, I have two questions about the M26 sin ala -

1 - what do you believe are the signs of a counterfeit (I noticed that counterfeits exist some years ago)

2 - to which other country were the sin ala helmets sold? The only reference I have seen to this before is on Joseba's wbsite, where he says "In the aforementioned year 1931, a budget was approved to manufacture 20,000 helmets, and the manufacturer allocated them to the " helmet with a wing ". This represented the definitive cancellation of a possible development of the " hull without a wing " and, consequently, its manufacture was definitively suppressed, reserving the batch manufactured for a possible export (which was never carried out)."
ESPAÑOL 21 SIN ALA

[Jack59]

Hi Greg, thanks for your comments & questions.

Let's start with the counterfeit of the M26 "sin ala". Joseba's website great page specific for it: Casco.

Also have a look at this:
Spanish Civil War Modelo 21 M-1921 Steel Army Helmet – International Military Antiques

Resuming Joseba's page: the general shape of the counterfeit is not as gracefully as the original, it's grey & has a Police badge on it, it's 200 gr. eavier, the "arms" for the bales are shorter & the badge plate sides are square & traces of welding hardly evident. Information & a bit of flair also helps.

I'm inclined to beleive that no helmets were exported because of the political instability specially after the Republican elections victory in 1931. The first prototype from the Trubia Arsenal under the direction of artillery commander, Don Antonio Ramirez de Arellano was rejected in 1927.



But the unstoppable commander went ahead with the project ending up creating 2 new M26 helmets as we know them; "con ala" & "sin ala". Both helmets were presented to the Committee of the Artillery Corps who preferred the "sin ala" model & went ahead to start production in 1930 for 12,000 units & only 1,500 units of the "con ala" type. Why both? But on the 3rd November 1930, a Royal Decree imposed the final decision! And guess what? Yep, the "con ala" was adopted for the Spanish Army with an initial budget for 20,000 helmets. That's when the manufactured "sin ala" we're stored away until the beginning of the Civil War in 1936. Final figures of manufactured helmets are unknown, except that there was never enough Spanish helmets available specially for the Republicans in the upcoming Civil War.



Hoping that I was able to shed a bit of light on a turbulent time in Spanish helmets manufacturing.

The book "LES CASQUES DE COMBAT du monde entier de 1915 à nos jours" tome 2 (1991) provided me with useful information.

[Jack59]

Model 42/79, Paras & Marines M1s.

With more than 30 years in service the model 42 was modernized with a new-style cradle & chin strap system in 1979, becoming the model 42/79. In the process simplicity was not invited & the replacement system was far from being a success story.





A personnel leather chin strap is seen here.




As early as 1953, the USA provided abundant equipment to Spain in a first step for it to join Nato, it will take 30 years to happen For operational purpose, the paratroopers & marines were equipped with US M1 surplus helmets, leftovers from WW2 & Korean war, most of them in a pitiful shape, specially the liners. Needless to say but a wide variety of parts were used for repairs over a long period of time.

Below is an example of a Spanish Marines M1 helmet.





The liner is an early German Schuberth Werke (SW). Over time Spanish webbing components, buckles were adapted to keep those old M1s functional. Note the Spanish leather cradle.



The chin strap buckle is typically Spanish. The plastic chin cup was not strong & broke easily.




Spanish paratrooper M1 helmet.





It's liner (SW) components are Spanish except the headband.



It was fitted with buckles to hold the shell extended chin straps.



It's typical for Spanish M1s to have numerous id numbers in the shell & liners.



See you soon.

[Estonian]

[Jack59]

The M65 & Marte 1985 helmets.

In the 1960's, Spain was planning to eventually join NATO,
so a new helmet was manufactured by Fedur of Zaragoza
& Induyco of Madrid, named the M65.



It was a copy of the M1 without the rim.



The helmet was first issued to Airborne & Marines units.
The helmet chin straps, buckles & cradle installed depended
on the units main task (as seen earlier on the M1s).



This version was used by Airborne & Special Forces units.
The liner was made out of plastic, there is ventilation hole
on each side.



Note that another type of liner exist, made by Fedur of Zaragoza, earlier model? It uses the Spanish leather cradle seen with the Marines M1s. See below.


Link: ESPAÑOL 65


I'm ending with the Spanish first composite helmet, the Marte manufactured by Induyco of Madrid & delivered in 1985.



This is the second model (Marte II). The chinstrap strap ends
now fitting in added "Y" sections to provide better balance.



It is fitted with a Ridell liner system, you will also recognise
the Spanish style components going back to the old M1s days.






The helmet came in this plastic bag, clearly identified for Marines.



For the time been this complete my overview of Spanish helmets.
Is it over? No! simply because there is a lot of gaps to fill, please do so.

Thanks. See you next time.