very crude M1 style helmet with Polish Wz50 liner , possibly an IRAQI helmet?

[battle gear]

Post WW2 Polish Calvary Army Helmet, Vintage 1950-60 | eBay

I saw this unusual helmet on ebay that looks like it could be from IRAQ , it's painted a desert tan and has what looks like a Polish Wz50 liner & chin strap crudely rived in a M1 style helmet shell

[bigredone]

It very well could be from iraq. After the iran iraq war saddam had a hard time outfitting his units- so in turn he got m1 style helmets from korea and eventualy started making cheaper fiberglass versions that provided no protection. Ive seen a variety of helmets here in iraq so far- some to list are the british tommy,m1,romanian m73, and soviet helmets. even now the iraqi army has about 20 different types of camo uniforms from a variety of countries-

[battle gear]

It very well could be from iraq. After the iran iraq war saddam had a hard time outfitting his units- so in turn he got m1 style helmets from korea and eventualy started making cheaper fiberglass versions that provided no protection. Ive seen a variety of helmets here in iraq so far- some to list are the british tommy,m1,romanian m73, and soviet helmets. even now the iraqi army has about 20 different types of camo uniforms from a variety of countries-

do you remember if the M1 helmet shells / liners were US made M1's ? or were they euro copies of the M1?

thanks

[bigredone]

Ive actually seen both but mostly euro- Iraq doesn't make alot of sense lol

[Greg Pickersgill]

I am speculating here, perhaps wildly, but your helmet could have an unusual hsitory. If indeed it was sourced from Iraq it could be the shell of a German M56, which was a clone of the US M1. The German helmet was exported to Iran when the M1A1 replaced it in the 1970s, so it is concievable that during the Iran-Iraq war salvaged parts were mated together - ie the shell of an M56 with a u/s liner and the liner of a Polish wz.50 which had a damaged shell. Unlikely, I agree, but not impossible. Of course if it didn't come from Iraq, then what the hell do *I* know...

GregP

[noelh]

I think Greg has come close there. To me the tan colour is reminiscent of the tan colour of the helmets used by the Shah's army and later in the Iran-Iraq war. Which suggests the shell is Iranian. It's looks a bit battered, seen a lot of action. Perhaps the original liner was damaged and replaced with whatever came to hand by some Iranian soldier or even an Iraqi. Based on the evidence of the helmets built into the crossed swords monument in Baghdad there was a quite a variety of helmets circulating the region. A bit of mix and match going on.

[battle gear]

I think it's an Iranian helmet that the Iraqis brought back to use for their own military and added the liner

Ive seen several Iraqi fiber type helmets with the same type of conversion using a polish Wz50 leather liner

the shell is probably a German M56 with a shortened visor, the Iranians are already known for doing this modification.

[JBR]

It looks likely it is from Iraq, although the visor still seems intact. (Am I right in thinking the visors were removed by the Iranians for religious/cultural reasons concerning not shielding the face?) However, I'd like to throw another guess into the mix: the Israelis captured large numbers of arab M50s and used them. A damaged M50 and a spare M1 shell could have come together. The Israelis stuck all sorts of other liners into M1s. Best Regards,

[JBR]

Looking again, maybe the visor isn't as intact as I thought! Best Regards,

[Tinhat]

I would lean towards Israeli, they generally riveted a pad to the dome of the helmet. It's not ther one this one but there is no other reaosn for the rivet to be there.
I hope the wearer had a cover for it, with those nice shiny buttons on it.
Either way it would have been a good buy just for the investigation.