West German Helmets

[michelwijnand]

Well then I did good I think, I got it for 4,51 Euro.
People must have not known what it was.
It's the same green without decals, is it BGS or could it also be police, becuse I have another helmet (the later type without rivets) that is green that is certainly BGS

Cheers,
Michel

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

If you have a picture of the Wachbattalion helmet you saw for sale? There are two special light weight parade helmets worn by them and they are very rare. I would really like to see the helmet and the markings inside of the helmet that was sold.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Well then I did good I think, I got it for 4,51 Euro.
People must have not known what it was.
It's the same green without decals, is it BGS or could it also be police, becuse I have another helmet (the later type without rivets) that is green that is certainly BGS

Cheers,
Michel

Michel,

A good price indeed. As for what constitutes a green polizei helmet, that is hard to say. The colour of helmets from state to state varied greatly. From a green close to that of the BGS to a green that looks more blue than green. Since your helmet has the "salt and pepper" air holes I would guess that it is certainly a polizie helmet. It would be really appreciated if you could post pictures to this thread. Including any markings on the interior.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Hi Gordon,

Here's the helmet that sold for EUR 151,00. I'm curious to know what you think of it!







Steve

[Asbjoern]

Where is the spraycan ... somewhere must be a box of decals... hihow lets make money ..



Jens

[uscob]

oh ****, what is this?

[Collectinsteve]

Hehe... that is EXACTLY what I thought. Which is why my top bid was EUR 12

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Very funny. Looks like something you would buy in Disneyland.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

I think using things like this to learn from is a good idea for us all so we can better know what to look for. What problems do people see with this helmet? For me, these are the things I felt when I looked at it:

1. The liner is very well used, yet the paint looks new

2. It appears there are some rust or damage spots, yet the paint looks new

3. The helmet is 44 years old and must have passed through many hands before getting to this seller, yet the paint looks new

4. The decals appear to overlap rust or damage spots, yet they look brand new

Is this what other people see? Are there other possible problems with this helmet?

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

All of the points you raised are valid. However, I wouldn't even go as far as to list them all. Just one look should be enough to tell a prospective buyer that this can not be original. No such decal arrangement ever existed. This is a pure fantasy piece. I'll post pictures of the special Wachbataillon helmets as soon as I can locate my pictures of the early ones. To the best of my knowledge, they never wore the WWII style helmet.

Regards,

Gordon

[Collectinsteve]

Hi Gordon,

Heh... I suspected that. The problem I had is I've never seen any pictures of BGS WB items so I have no idea if the stickers are correct or not. But I could tell the helmet was a "put together" even if the stickers were correct. I try to use basic, non specific, problems to rule things in/out because it doesn't require specific knowledge about the actual item itself.

Steve

[Gordon Craig]

Steve,

Before I lead anyone astray with my comment that this decal combination never existed, I should have said that the BW never used decals. The use of decals on helmets post war was purely a Polizei thing. Here are pictures of the the G-helm shaped helmets worn by the Wachbatallion. First, the shiny surface helmets. These helmets are worn on parade and guard duty.

[Gordon Craig]

The label inside these helmets.

[Gordon Craig]

The other G-helm shaped helmet that the Wachbatallion wears has a flat finish and is worn only during funerals.
The helmets worn by the Wachbataillon before the G-helm came into use was the M1 shaped helmet. I have only seen them in a shiny surface and they had a similar sticker inside them. I had pictures of these M1 type helmets in my archives but can not locate them now. Perhaps they went with my old computer. If I find pictures of these helmets again I'll post them.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

The sticker in the flat finish surface G-helm. When found on ebay.de Wachbatallion helmets of both styles are commonly refered to as 'Repräsentation helm".