Bullet Holes

[sabertasche]

I thought I'd post my only German Helmet, a nice cammo version with a bullet hole. I picked this up in the BC interior. The appears to be made by a .303 bullet - no doubt a Canadian soldier just seeing if there was anyone "home". Does anyone else have such items?

Enjoy.

Greg

[sabertasche]

second scan, sorry some of these are out of focus.

Greg

[sabertasche]

3rd scan of the same helmet. Any comment on the cammo?

[sabertasche]

more scans of this helmet.

Greg

[sabertasche]

last scan of this helmet. Anyone else have similar items with battle damage of hole in them?

[Jean-Loup]

The fact that the liner is missing may indicate that there was somebody home when the bullet went through. The liner may have been taken out because it was dirty with blood.

JL

[sabertasche]

Interesting Jean-Loup, I always assumed that there was no body wearing the helmet as the holes line up back- to- front. I would expect a head, in the helmet would cause some deflection of the bullet as it passed through the head. Does anyone have a helmet with holes where the holes do not line up?

Greg

[Jean-Loup]

I have always wondered about what you said. I think in the case of your helmet, with the angle of penetration, and the power of a .303 bullet, the deflection would be quite small.
In this helmet, I always thought that the holes dont seem to line up well.

[JaimeH]

A story I heard or read from Paul Harvey"The Rest of the Story" told how a very young Walt Disney was a volunteer to the med corps. He made money by shooting holes in German helmets and selling them to returning US soldiers.

[Jean-Loup]

Indeed, good condition bullet damaged helmets are always to be viewed with caution. But this one, with its missing interior, and the bullet coming from the rear/top has potentiel.
Of course, it is impossible to be 100% certain of anything thow.

[Daniel Murphy]

Of course, it is impossible to be 100% certain of anything thow.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Usually yes. However I have a helmet I got from the estate of a ww1 Marine Sgt. that I can be certain of. It is a M16 camo (not the post July 1918 style with black stripes) that was removed from the skeletal remains of a german soldier. Before he took the helmet he snapped a picture. The dead mans skull shows three bullet holes, right cheekbone, above the right eye and left eyebrow. The helmet has three exit holes in the same triangular pattern that exit the back top of the helmet. These holes will fit a .30 cal. but no larger. NOT, in the picture are two more bullet holes that go through from back to front, level with the liner band. These will fit a 8mm or .32 cal bullet. I can only assume these happened when he was fired on while the helmet was attached to his pack after being souvenired. The helmet has the damaged liner and chinstrap. Oh, BTW, Yes I have the photo too. The German soldiers skull is wearing a feldmutze under the helmet (which indicates he probably died winter of 1917-18) and the chinstrap is around his lower jawbone. The mutze must have caught 90+% of the icky nasty bloody gray matter stuff. Only thing I can figure is he looked over the parapet just a second too long and caught a burst of MG fire. Had to be a F*cking new guy, no real "Frontschwein" would do that Yes, I know, I will get it out and post it.
Dan Murphy

[Jean-Loup]

Yes, you defenetly have to post that photo. The set you have is extremely rare.
JL

[Mark S.]

Wow, that is extraordinary! Please share the picture if you can.

[Daniel Murphy]

I will do more than that. I will show the helmet he was wearing as well. It is posted under "He never knew what hit him!".
Dan Murphy

[landsknechte]

Here's my example:





...and here's what it looked like when I first got it: