Attu souvenir helmet

[NARVIK1940]

Picked this one up recently. I have added a star from a relic helmet, as it was missing.

Attu 1.jpg

attu close up inscription.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

[ATTACH]2181998[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]2181999[/ATTACH]

[NARVIK1940]

[ATTACH]2182000[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]2182001[/ATTACH]

[NARVIK1940]

Here it is with a small sized IJA helmet souvenired from the same battle.

attu 7.jpg

[Ryukyutunnelrat]

Saw this on the other site. Very neat how the vet added "Attu" to the helmet...I am the same way with my confirmed Japanese Navy/Army Helmets from the Battle of Okinawa...like to keep them together. Thanks for Sharing, Regards, David.

[NARVIK1940]

Thanks, David! I am pretty happy with this one. There were only 3,000 Japanese involved in this relatively obscure, but significant battle. I wonder how many more of these are floating around, undiscovered or in collections.

Scott

[Matt]

IJA Helmet

Scott, great helmet. Thanks for posting.

[GordonA]

Nice

really Cool!

[Luis22]

[Ardire]

Beautiful!

[PaulR]

I was actually on Attu a decade ago. There was a Coast Guard base there, until about five years ago. Anyway, it is a horrible place to live, as it is cold, desolate, and inhospitable. I know that the Japanese that occupied that place were not happy campers, when before the fighting stopped.

There are still abandoned vehicles, armor, and etc still laying about. Everything was left the way it was, when the American forces pulled out in 1945. There are still tons of unexploded ordnance, weapons, and things everywhere. They even find a body every so often.

[NARVIK1940]

Very interesting, Paul!

I have only been to Adak, and spent a couple of months on fishing vessels in the Bering Sea. So I can attest to the weather. I had some friends trapping foxes on Attu and Kiska in 1976. They had lots of stories about the ordinance they found. I guess I have been fascinated ever since. Being an Alaskan, this battle holds special interest, to be sure. Some day, perhaps, I will get out there.

Scott

[NARVIK1940]

Here is the inscription inside the smaller helmet. Note also the bloodstains inside the liner on that one as well. Clearly a battlefield pick up.

Attu helmet 7.jpg

Attu helmet 15.jpg

[NARVIK1940]

Here is a nice picture showing GI's with souvenirs on Attu.

img351.jpg