Japanese Civil Helmet w/ Battle Damage

[Milton]

Hello folks. Just picked up this lid from a friend who got it from a WWII vet who saw service in the S. Pacific...came home w/ this helmet, a rifle and bayonet and sold them to my friend via an ad he ran. I know these civil type helmets were often pressed into service in the later campaigns (Iwo, Okinawa, etc), and this one really caught my eye due to its color, completeness and the nasty puncture to the dome (either a bullet or shrapnel). Some pix attached for your perusal and comments. Thx!

[Milton]

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[Milton]

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[Milton]

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[Milton]

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[cbuehler]

Very interesting helmet. Did the vet say how or where he got it? It was unlikely to have been in service with the Army though. If it came from Okinawa, it was surely used by one of the Civil/Para- military organizations that were based there ( Okinawa is Japan of course) and may have become involved in the fighting or it was damaged while in some building or something during a bombardment. It appears to be damage from a shell fragment.
There were some Civilian Military services based in Manila during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, but whether they had these helmets is something I am not sure of.


CB

[Milton]

Thanks for your input. I asked him, and he said that the vet couldn't remember exactly where he'd picked it up, as he was involved in several campaigns. He'd sold the pieces to my friend at a hotel buy he'd set up sometime earlier this year. Realizing full well that this isn't the "high" end Type 90 combat helmet, I still felt it was worth having due to its overall condition, look and feel. I've seen quite a lot of late war footage showing helmets of this type being worn in the field, so no doubt (in my mind at least) that they were worn in combat situations during the late stages of the war, be it by civil defense / home guard type forces, etc. Considering how the late-war Japanese army was being outfitted, I'm reticent to exlude anything from the realm of possibility. Thx for dropping in!

[cbuehler]

Actually, the regular Japanese Army continued to use the best equipment available right to the end of the war (Okinawa being the last major battle). Extremely little, if any, of the so called "last ditch" weapons or equipment was ever used in this battle and I am not aware of the use of these civilian helmets by the Army in the later stages of the war either. It is of course possible though. The Army in the field still had large quantities of earlier first class weapons and equipment available. The shoddy last ditch material was primarily produced for just for that event and retained in reserve in the main home islands.
This of course does not detract from your helmet at all. It is quite rare to find these with battle damage to say the least!

CB

[Milton]

Thanks again! I think you're right-spot on. Most of the REALLY shoddy, "last ditch" T99 rifles I've ever encountered "out of the woodwork" (for example) have come from navy vets, or at the very least, army troops who ended up on occupation duty on the Japanese mainland immediately post war. (hence the HUGE numbers that have ground mums as opposed to those with their mums intact). I suppose other members may well have veteran acquired "last ditch" bayonets, rifles, etc, that may have been sourced from vets involved in some island hopping, but I can only speak from my personal experience in this regard. An old friend of the family, (now deceased WWII navy vet) came home w/ a "last ditch" T99 that was almost laughable in its crudity. Bamboo fore-end, sight welded on crooked, rough-casting marks to all metal surfaces and a square "block" bar-type bolt. Of course to a lot of collectors, the cruder the better as regards some of this stuff, and I can most certainly appreciate that attitude, as it really bespeaks of the desperate measures extant for the Japanese in the last days of the war. As for this helmet, it's the first one of these I've had in ages, and really, only the first one that I really felt the "need" to have, just because it has so much "personality" for want of a better word...

[101combatvet]

Actually, it looks like a bullet hit to me..... the problem is the location of the bullet strike. Just an odd hit or a ricochet I guess.

[RussellM]

Milton, I've been looking for footage showing these types of helmets in wear, in the field, and have been un-successful so far. Can you tell me which programme titles you've seen these in?

Regards
Russ

[Milton]

Hi Russ. I wish I could say off-hand exactly where I've seen them, but if memory serves it was on one of the MANY WWII documentaries that are shown in the states on the History / Military channel, as well as in books about the Pacific War. The last time I can recall, was in some documentary films about the battle of Okinawa I believe. Good luck!

[Milton]

And it "could" be a bullet also, but from the shape of the hole, I lean more towards it being the result of air-burst (overhead) shrapnel. Obviously, the fact that the helmet shows no physical "remnants" (for want of a better word) of its original owner to the interior, I'd have to assume it was already on the ground (or simply blown immediately clear of its wearer) when struck.

[Jareth]

I think I recall the footage of these helmets worn by para militias & civilans on Okinawa(go prove it!). Hard to pin point as they used a collage of footage from different periods on these documentaries. Not to put a damp towel on the battle damage theory....these helmets were almost worthless in the 70s. They make great targets for post war shooters. If helmet was propped up, leaning on edge or shot from above while helmet was flat on the ground I think this would be the result. Just saying you'll never no how or when the helmet was damaged. We can speculate all day.

[Milton]

Very true Jareth, and the "hows" and "why's" are more or less irrelevant to me, as it came straight from the vet who brought it home to me via my friend, so I'm just happy to have it, as I think it's a great looking example of this type of helmet. Thx!