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    #1

    Paratrooper helmet, late Indochina

    I posted this a while ago in the US forum, but Patrick asked me o post it here as well.
    I interviewed a man for my WW2 project recently, and he said he had a Mein Kampf he could give me, that he had found localy when the area was liberated.
    However, he ended up remembering, to my disapointment, that he had already given the Mein Kampf away a few years ago... But it turned out that he still had is own helmet from Indochina and Algeria, so he gave me that instead, though it is not really my focus of interest.
    Here is the guy today, and when he was in AlgeriaI guess.
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    #2
    Anyays, I brought my tape recorder along, to tape themans story, expecting exciting adventures in the rice fields, and ambushes in the jungle.
    But it turned out that he finnished his officers training at about the time of Dien Bien Phu, and arrived in Indochina in a paratrooper unit, once the cease fire has started. As the newest officer, he was assigned to S-1, or S2, or whatever it is called when you take care of supplies.
    He was disapointed by all this, and after a few months demanded to be sent back to France.
    Later he did several tours in Algeria, but he told me that they basicaly never wore their helmets there, though he did carry it around with him.
    He remembered his US helmet fondly, saying that he refused to ever exchange it for one of the copy cat french helmets that were pure crap in comparison. He claimed to have kept the exact same helmet during his entire military service: about 15 or 20 years. Considering the condition of the helmet, I believe him...
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      #3
      This helmet is in the condition that I like most: heavily worn, but with no damage due to poor storage.

      JL
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        #4
        First off @#$%ing hell what a great helmet and story you have found.

        The helmet is a WW2 M1 c .

        The photograph just warms me heart seeing the different combo uniform being worn , it could be either Africa or the far East , did you guy nail that down for sure .

        Thanks for showing and are you going to print this mans story at all?


        owen

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          #5
          That is a great find!

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            #6
            Maybe a regular helmet with a para liner ?
            I cant see the snaps or am I blind ?
            o

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              #7
              What a great helmet and story how you got it. ;-)

              regards

              Bernhard

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                #8
                Thanks for teh comments guys.

                "Maybe a regular helmet with a para liner ?
                I cant see the snaps or am I blind ?"

                You are correct, only the liner is para, the shell is a regular model. However, it seems that that is what most paratroopers had in reality.

                I did record about 1 hour of conversation with the man. He was involved in combat in Algeria, but not in Indochina. However, I am used to doing interviews with WW2 veterans, and the Algerian war stories seem rather 'calm' in comparison.
                Anyways, I documented the story as best I could, so nothing is lost.
                Concerning the photo, I am not sure if it was taken in Algeria or Indochina, but I think it was Algeria.

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                  #9
                  Makes no difference mate ...a great story with a fantastic image and an original helmet in every way .
                  owen

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