Hi,
this is a steel helmet M 1951 of the West-German Bundesgrenzschutz (BGS) - Federal Border Guard.
After the Federal Border Guard was founded in 1951 as a kind of paramilitary police force to replace the army (similar to the KVP in the GDR / SBZ), the German steel helmet as it was used until 1945 was reintroduced and maintained until the 1990s.
At the beginning, remnants of M35, M40 or M42 helmets were used or these steel helmets were collected at scrap yards or dismantling areas.
These helmets have undergone an overhaul. They received a new inner lining, with some eyelets were welded on for the chin strap and they received a sandy texture in the color black-green RAL 6012.
With the establishment of the Bundeswehr in November 1955, the Federal Border Guard increasingly lost this importance.
Parts of the Federal Border Police were also transferred to the Bundeswehr. As a result, the "old" helmet was worn again in the army for a while before it was exchanged for the German M1 clone.
The inner lining was rather a bad hybrid solution between the US style and the Wehrmacht M31. For this reason, work was quickly carried out on an improvement and a new lining was introduced as early as 1953.
The inner lining was attached to the helmet with three rivets.
There are 2 versions of the early M 1951 helmet and inner lining. One version has recycled M1931 outer rings with chinstrap holders, the second version has a new ring with a suspension function and welded chinstrap eyelets.
From 1953, the majority of these M 1951 helmets were converted for the new 53 inner lining. For this reason, they are rarely found today.
I want to show you the version with the shit chinstrap eyelets.
The inside of the helmet is marked with "SW".
This is likely to be the "Schuberth Werke, Braunschweig" ("Schuberth works"), which refurbished the helmets and provided them with new linings.
This is an M42 from World War II, which has been revised as described.
The manufacturer and LOT number can still be seen in the neck light.
The chinstrap should also come from the 2nd World War.
Have fun watching.
Bookmarks