I bought this M35 DD Luftwaffe helmet in 2005. Both myself and the seller (a friend) were unaware of the inked stampings on the underside of the

liner. The helmet is a M35 with a 1938-dated liner band. The Luftwaffe decal is, I believe, an example of the "snake leg" droop tail eagle as

described in several books on the subject.

Of particular interest to me were the liner stamps I discovered when I got the helmet home: "II JGSCHW. 334" and "FLG.H.KOMP" .

My research tells me that this helmet was issued to ground personnel to Jagdgeschwader 334, which became JG 133 in November of 1938 and

JG 53 in May 1939.

JG 53 was known as the "Pik As" (Ace of Spades) and piloted BF 109 fighters. They served in France 1940, the Battle of Britain, Russia

in 1941, North Africa and Malta in 1941-1942, Russia again in 1942, North Africa, Malta and Sicily in 1942 and 1943, Italy in 1943-1944,

and finally Romania, Hungary and the final defense of Germany in 1944-1945.

Jim

 

Great helmet!

I'll bet there's a lot of Stahlhelm owners checking the inner lining of thier collection right about now.

I love it, thanks for sharing!

Fantastic helmet. Rich A. in Pa.

Awesome early snake leg - right amount of patina - very nice DD 35 Lufty