I am trying to buy this helmet from the late vet's daughter. Her brother might want it, so she will have to talk to him before she can sell it to me. The vet was an officer who fought in North Africa, France and Germany. I am sure that it is real as he brought it home after WWII. For many years he had it hanging in his garage at the New Jersey Shore holding his fish hooks! It is a bit rusty from the ocean air, the liner is missing, and it has a crack in the steel on the side by the decal. I thought that I would take a few pictures to show us all what a real decal looks like.

Due to the crack in the left side, I am assuming that the original German owner was injured by an explosion of some sort, and was badly injured. That is probably why the liner is missing, as I would think that it was blood-stained.

Enjoy looking at the pictures. After viewing them all, I would like to ask a few questions. One, is my $200.00 offer fair? Two, am I correct about it being an M40? Three, is my damage/injury idea correct? Four, if I get it, what can I do about all of the rust? I would like to clean it up to display, and to preserve it for the years ahead.

Thanks, and enjoy looking.

Chief

a closer look at the decal and damage;

even closer;

the back;

another view;

the other side;

another angle;

inside;

another view of the rusty inside;

close up the the rolled edge;

close up of 60 years of rust!

the edge again;

overall inside view;

close up of the decal;

closer view of the decal;

Here is a close up of the damage and decal. Maybe not a fatal wound?

Chief

It looks like an M35 ,is the air vent a separate piece or just punched out of the shell ? the damage is like nothing I have seen before looks like a hot knife through butter damage ,dont clean it it looks fine as it is ,$200 is fair but I might go a little more say $250 .Rob

Rob,

Thanks for the reply.
I took another look.
Yes, you are right, it's an M35.
I sure hope that I can buy it.

Regards,

Chief

That is a very cool interesting helmet. I agree the damage is unlike anything I have seen, but shells going off can do whatever they want. They probably explains the lack of liner too. a hit that that would have made it pretty gooey.

I wouldn't be so quick to 'clean' it up. it really doesn't look that rusty from the photos.

Bump the offer to what the guy wants to get the helmet, you'll be glad you did later on.

Mr. Jerry,

Well, I took your advice, raised my offer(s), and finally bought it after all these months! I kept on asking for it, and all that hard work paid off. (The timing came together also as she had to buy her son a new TV for college!)I might have over-paid, but I am happy that I have it. Someone commented that it might be a camo. Does it look like that to you?

Chief

Chief; I like your helmet interesting. Looks to me that someone took it to an industrial band saw. The cut looks straight and not caused by battlefield damage. The smaller second bit of damage it looks like who ever tried to cut it again or for the first time caused the saw to kick it out and the operator decieded not to loose a body part and stopped before he did. Just a thought. JerryR.

Jerry,

The edges of the cut do not look smooth, (like you would expect from a saw) they are rough and ripped. Also there is a little more damage to the lower lip and an indentaion that does not show well in the pictures towards the front/side in front of the decal. You can almost see it in the second picture between the vent hole and the hole where the rivet went. It looks to me like a large (wide) piece of steel or something hit the side and caused the indentation and slice that went through.

Chief

I have to agree with Jerry I think it is a SAW cut and when you look at pics one and two you can see the outline of the proposed cut quite clearly.

Paul

Thanks Paul I need that reply. Two people see the same thing. Still very interesting. Jerry R.