WW2 Japanese Helmet????

[Chris Lee]

Folks,
I had posted this on the International forum but was told it possible could be Japanese. Is this indeed a WW2 Japanese Helmet? What does the writing say and if it is a Japanese helmet, what kind of value does it have?? Thanks

[Chris Lee]

pics

pics

[juoneen]

I guess it is different from the one I thought it was...mine has one large round headed rivet and two small ones below...and no leather pads...but a cloth liner....maybe they captured this helm and used it ...but still appears to be a japanese helmet as you suspected . Did the seller know anything ? The standard top ridge type japanese helmets are 5 to 700 depending on condition if complete.Here is the one I was referring to...sorry to have wasted your time...

[Chris Lee]

helmet

I guess it is different from the one I thought it was...mine has one large round headed rivet and two small ones below...and no leather pads...but a cloth liner....maybe they captured this helm and used it ...but still appears to be a japanese helmet as you suspected . Did the seller know anything ? The standard top ridge type japanese helmets are 5 to 700 depending on condition if complete.Here is the one I was referring to...sorry to have wasted your time...

J,
Never a waste of time. Every little bit of info helps!! Thanks

[bolo]

looks like a WWII Swedish M26

Ive seen several of these made into repro WWII Japanese helmets for reenacting or fake Japanese helmet

value is less than $20 US money

the Sweden M26 helmet was used well into the 1980's as a civil defense helmet

http://brendonshelmets.weebly.com/sweden-m26.html

[Chris Lee]

helmet

looks like a WWII Swedish M26

Ive seen several of these made into repro WWII Japanese helmets for reenacting or fake Japanese helmet

value is less than $20 US money

the Sweden M26 helmet was used well into the 1980's as a civil defense helmet

http://brendonshelmets.weebly.com/sweden-m26.html

Thats why I couldn`t find it on any sites!!! Thanks!!

[Jareth]

Yes Swedish with fake kanji

[gunto]

A swedish in japanese service, LOL...

[GHP]

Well, the "fake" kanji is well written, and is the family name Kawai:

川井

--Guy

[Paul G]

Well, the "fake" kanji is well written, and is the family name Kawai:

川井

--Guy

Thats the real helmet, with the good Kanji, its just a civil style. The first one has really bad Kanji, gibberish.

PG-

[juoneen]

now I remember...they called it a civil defense / last ditch helmet ...so they were worn in both situations...I found some article on it,if I find it again I will post that.

here is what I found...and I think there were several different variations of types of these types of helmets:

The development of Japanese civil defense measures in World War 2 reflected two key elements. First, the emergency services in Japan were not as well developed as they were in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States at the War's start. Second, the military leadership denied the possibility of air attacks by United States forces on the Japanese homeland, even after the Doolittle raid of 1942, a position that continued to be the official government position until 1944.

Japanese fire departments were not well staffed, with only 8000 firefighters for all of Tokyo, were poorly trained even by the standards of the day, and fire fighting equipment was limited in both quantity and sophistication, especially when considered against the range of equipment fielded by Britain's National Fire Service. Contemporary photographic evidence shows that some cities were still served by hand drawn, cart-mounted fire engines and hose reels. The dearth of resources was clearly demonstrated by the assignment of a single unit to provide emergency medical services for Tokyo, Army Hospital Rescue Unit No. 1.

However, in the aftermath of the Doolittle raid, consideration was given to developing sheltering for city populations. The subway systems were considered and rejected because they were believed to be too shallow to provide protection against high explosive bombs. However, other population protections were put in place. To fight fires, civil defense distributed buckets, flails, and shovels, and recommended that families construct water cisterns on their property. Individual protective equipment included the zukin, an air raid hood designed to protect the person's head. Plans were announced to spray a fire retardant on wooden houses, but this program appears to have never been carried out. Training for the general population was instituted on a district basis, daily from 0500 to 0700. Newspapers printed plans for simple bomb shelters, and families were encouraged to construct these. Those shelters that were built consisted on little more than a trench or pit excavated in the soil and provided with a cover that could be pulled over the shelter when in use to protect against bomb splinters. Evacuation was used to reduce the number of people living in potential target areas; by March 1945 approximately 1.7 million people had been evacuated from Tokyo, out of 6 million residents.

Industrial plant protection programs were not much more advanced. Although plants were supposed to construct air raid shelters on the premises, reports indicated that most did not do so. In 1944 industrial plant dispersion out of target areas was ordered, eventually becoming mandatory, and resulting in significant disruption in the production of war materials.

Air raid response including a warning siren system and neighborhood air raid wardens. Citizens were urged to show a warrior spirit and attack fires with their shovels and flails and form bucket brigades to suppress them with water.

Nagoya may have been the city with the best air raid precautions in Japan. Fire breaks had been constructed throughout the city. An active block association system was designed for defense, providing residents with flails, buckets, and mats for fire fighting, and actively encouraging construction and filling of cisterns. To reduce vulnerability to fire, families were instructed to take down partition screens and other potential fuel sources when the air raid siren sounded. Incipient fire fighting was to be done by smothering the fire with mats. However, if that did not work, families were encouraged to work in teams of threes to control the fire with buckets of water until fire engines could arrive.

The firebreak model was eventually standardized in other cities, with 150 foot wide lanes being cleared of buildings. In Tokyo this required demolition of approximately 10 percent of the city's buildings to create lanes covering 26 linear miles.

The inadequacy of this program created significant vulnerabilities to air raids in densely populated cities. Japanese construction at the time, even in older industrial facilities, depended heavily on wood and other flammable materials, and most homes depended on open fires for cooking.