Original World War Two German Heer M40 Single Decal Helmet Complete with Liner and Chinstrap and Blood Staining on both.
Although the Decal is virtually gone, remnants of where it once was are still present. This helmet is definitely an interesting as we can see it has been repainted once or possibly twice based on the flaking, patina, and the fact that a decal was placed over a second layer of paint, underneath the darker applications we can still see the early Apple Green finish. The liner of this helmet is what makes it really unique, we’ve seen our fair share of pieces with actual signs of combat (i.e. blood) and this helmet is a true testament to the harsh reality of war, aside from the staining we can see the liner itself is in immaculate condition with the size stamp (55) still visible on one of the liner “fingers”, one can only assume this helmet was re-issued during the war receiving a new paint job and liner, and ultimately whoever it was re-issued to was Killed in Action (KIA) or severely wounded not longer after. The chin strap, features speckled stains of the exact hue as the large stain on the liner.
In early 1915, the French army introduced the first "modern" steel helmets, followed shortly by the British army later that year. With experimental helmets in the field, plans on the drawing board, and some captured French and British helmets, the German army conducted tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November and in the field in December 1915. After approving an acceptable design, production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz in the spring of 1916. These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. The M16 and M18 helmets remained in usage through-out the Weimar Reichswehr era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935. In an effort to reduced construction time and labor costs minor modifications were introduced in March 1940 resulting in the M40 helmet. Further construction modifications were undertaken in August 1942 resulting in the M42 helmet. Originally the Third Reich national tricolor helmet decal was introduced on March 14th 1933 for wear on the left side of the helmet to replace the Reichswehr era state shield insignia. Regulations of February 17th 1934 introduced the Wehrmacht eagle decal and the national tricolor decal was shifted to the right side of the helmet with the Wehrmacht eagle decal positioned on the left hand side. Regulations of March 21st 1940 dictated that the national tri-color decal was to be removed from all helmets and further regulations of August 28th 1943 abolished the Wehrmacht eagle decal and dictated that it was also to be removed from all helmets although the directives were not completely adhered to.
