What have I got here?

Yes indeedy, German WWII, helmet, an Air Force M40 model double decal helmet.

Very nice Luftwaffe helmet.

 

Tony

Great. Are these common, scarce or what. I have been a strictly "US" collector all my life. Couldn't pass this up for the for the asking price though. Can the piece be identified to a unit by the decals? Any help/thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

Great. Are these common, scarce or what. I have been a strictly "US" collector all my life. Couldn't pass this up for the for the asking price though. Can the piece be identified to a unit by the decals? Any help/thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

All you have is the Luftwaffe decal, which let's you know it was air force. However, what this soldier did specifically cannot be determined by that. The other decal is a Prussian tri-color national shield and again, nothing can be determined by that. This is what is referred to as double decal or DD. Later war helmets were minus the national shield. We are spoiled as US collectors because of tac, unit, divisional, etc markings on US helmets. This was not the case for the Germans.

Thank you.

FYI, this NS64 is the manufacure code NS= Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke, the 64 is the size of helmet, which is a medium.

 

 

This number is the production Lot number.

 

Thanks. Soooooo, rare/scarce or common?

This is a Luftwaffe M35 Double Decal. It is an early one based on the liner system, and probably dates from the mid-late 1930s. The early liner systems like yours were made with a single ply aluminum band. These were found to be too weak for field use, so later double decals and some single decals were made with aluminum liner bands that have reinforcing strips on each side. Wartime liners were made of steel and/or alloy materials. You can also tell the aluminum liners by the bales (they are also aluminum and have a square shape). That said, it looks like a nice honest helmet that is a little on the rough side condition-wise. The chin strap is a bit unusual. Not sure what is going on there. It looks like a later wartime version with one side perhaps being field made? Not sure. Luftwaffe helmets are far more common than their Heer, Kriegsmarine, Polizei and SS brothers. Yours is not terribly rare, but also not something you find every day. Nice honest looking helmet!

Just to add on the double decaled helmet. In June of 1940 an ordered handed down that the National Color decal would be eliminated from all helmets. Before my father passed away I remember asking many questions on Luftwaffe items. One was on a helmet I had were the National color decal was painted over and one could see portions of this. He said yes that when the order came out, his unit took their helmet and that the decal was removed by wire brushing or painted over. All later new helmets only came with just the Luftwafe eagle.

If you can check under the rear of the leather, there maybe a unit marking on it. Over the decades and what I been told by experts is that there seems to be more an abundance of Luftwaffe helmets then other branches. Also many more in better condition, except for the Luftwaffe ground soldiers most Luftwaffe personal wore soft caps on base and rarely had a need for steel pots. Dad says except for parade reviews, he doesn't remember wearing his helmet much except during his basic.

For what its worth. Here a photo of may father and his training group in Basic Training. Even then they rarely wore helmets. This was in late 39 he is 4th from the left. Luftwaffe had ground troop, using same equipment as the Army. As one that collects German WW2 Luftwaffe items. I only have 1 helmet more as a symbol since those into flight rarely wore one, and have no interest in non flying equipment.