In my area there is an auction this coming Saturday and being offered are two helmets, one is a Japanese Army, another Navy. I have not seen them in person but the pictures on the auction site show each helmet being what could be black or a very dark color. They do not show the webbing, liner, or any parts. The emblems on the front are typical army star and navy logos. The helmets from the outside match with anything I have seen in this forum except for the color. Now the weird part. On the top of one of the helmets is a sort of YIN and YANG symbol with a Roman numeral X painted in it. It is being described as having belonged to the Japanese 10th Corps or Army, the other helmet has a BEARS head painted on top with the yellow star and is being described as belonging to Command forces of the Aleutian Island campaign, Kiska. Now I do not believe they are real, no combat unit is going to have brightly painted emblems on top of their helmets. I wish I could have pictures but they are not open for viewing until Friday afternoon. Based on this amount of minimal information what is the take on what these helmets may be.
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Sounds like someone has painted US insignia on them. As you describe the "X Corp" emblem is the US X corp and the bear sounds like the US Alaska Defense Command. The Japanese didn't use any such symbols as these. Seems to me these are just postwar painted shells or at best sort of trench art. Depending on what your interests and needs are I would probably stay clear, especially if you are not going to find out if they have liners or if the insignia (star and anchor respectively) is original. -
Seems i saw some painted like that on a recent documentary, but never saw ay for sale. You might ask the seller what he knows about them, not the auctioneer, but the person who consigned them to the auctioneer to sell. Might go cheap...but auctions are never predictible if theres a large crowd, so i say if cheap buy em, if not pass. .Comment
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Good point on possible U.S. added markings. I have to check the order of battle for the Aleutian Island campaign and see what units we had there. If the 10th U.S. Mountain Corps was up there than that could explain the X. The bear would be symbolic of the Alaskan campaign but what throws that out the water is that the star that was painted on the helmet above the bears head is yellow. If the helmets were bringbacks and trench art by U.S. unit then the star should have been white. As for asking the original owner, impossible, he has gone to the way of time like so many other vets. The auction is an estate auction of his recently passed wife. So as to provenance those are both gone. Will let you what I see Friday at the pre auction inspection.Comment
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OK I inspected the helmets today and they appear to be legit, problem is someone painted both of them black and painted the tops with U.S. Shoulder patch insignias. The bear with the star above is the confirmed emblem of the U.S. Alaska Defense Command, Kiska. The other emblem is that of the U.S Army 10 Corps. All in all the helmets are in good shape with webbing, rivets, intact, the straps are pretty much missing with only small sections of them left on their appropriate rings. The owner of the helmets is deceased, order of battle does not have the 10th Corps in Alaska, they were in the Phillipines, and other parts of the Pacific theatre late in the war. Probably part of dugout dougs promise that he shall return. So I do not know the significance of the patch design painted on the helmets.. Any idea if the helmets are worth anything in their current and if so how muchComment
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They are worth something as "trench art" pieces, or as resoration projects. As the latter, maybe $100? That would be my comfort level......
IanComment
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Ok, the helmet with the 10th Corps emblem sold for 450.00. the Alaska command $475.00.Comment
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