Battle of the buldge camo?

[nick]

Some other how wants to give an opinion on that helmet?

[Edelweiss]

Yes : I love it.

This one is offered to me too. Very bad pics as always, I really don't understand how it's yet possible to take such shots with modern cameras.

I already have my own opinion, but I'd be pleased to hear what you would say about it, and not just about the camo pattern, of course...

[Edelweiss]

Other side :

[Edelweiss]

Insigna close-up ; I did my best to make it more "readable" with Photoshop, but I'm afraid I'm not a magician...
Nothing to learn from the liner pics, except that the leather is in a pretty good condition.

[JohnB]

This has been a very good thread and some interesting questions have been posed (especially by Perry). I would suggest a few guidelines in classifying German camo helmets from WWII.
1) I believe Germans camouflaged their helmets in order to blend in with the terrain and the season.

2) The Germans also used certain paint patterns that are probably traceable back to the company level. Some of these patterns are common, like the "Normandy" camo paras pictured by Ben and Willi in this thread. Also, straight tan helmets and straight white hemets are to be found. Chicken wire and medical "camos" are fairly consistent.
But some are not so common, such as WWI geometric style patterns on WWII helmets, cloud patterns, or irregular front-to-back stripes and green and white camos.

3)I think that these patterns accomodated the terrain and season in which a soldier fought moreso than a particular battle. So it is misleading to speak of a Stalingrad camo or a Battle of the Bulge camo. Even though we all speak of "Normandy" camos, it would probably be more accurate to speak of a Northern European Summer Camo. These camos would include almost any combination of reds, tans and greens.

4) There are certainly tropical camos which accomodated the terrain and climate in Africa as well as Southern Italy and probably the southern eastern front (Crimea, etc). I tend to agree with Perry that camo helmet patterns in Southern Italy leaned heavily toward tans and browns, reflecting less vegetation in that area.
As a German soldier moved north in Italy, more green may have been used to paint a helmet. I have a two-tone green helmet with a feldpost number traceable to northern Italy.

5) These are just some thoughts, and I agree with countless others that no absolute rules can ever be suggested. It is highly conceivable that a captured German in the Battle of the Bulge could still be using a northern European summer paint scheme on his helmet. Paint and helmet covers at the end of the war were not always available.
John

[Edelweiss]

I think everyone with agree with that. Camo patterns are a very interesting subject, rich in surprises and new discoveries.

Here is a pattern I would rather class in the "tropical" and "southern Europe" pattern. This is the helmet "Ob Bremner" named, subject of another thread in this forum. Unfortunately, I didn't get much more info about it ; if I could trace the owner, it will surely give more info about the area this pattern was supposed to match.

But... I was surprised to found a photo of men from a coastal artillery unit in Normandy (!) that had helmets camoed in a very close way !

And well, please give your opinions about the former one...

[Perry Floyd]

Chris I can't give a accurate assessment of the camo from those pics. They're just too blurry, anything would be guessing wildly..

[Edelweiss]

Well, in fact the camo paint seems a little bit too "brand new" IMO (no evidence of period use), and that's the direction I thought you would follow...
Any other "feeling" ?

[Perry Floyd]

Yes it was but I don't want to give bad reviews on a helmet that could be original. I would rather hold off for better pics and be sure..

[Edelweiss]

Wise behaviour, Perry. But sometimes, you don't know all the ennemy's plans before attacking, and have to take a decision only with the bad information at your disposal !

I'm kidding. More seriously, I do my best to get better views from the seller. Maybe later I hope...

[JohnB]

That particular pattern posted by Edelweis is one of the less encountered camo patterns I was referring to. I have two similar to it, though on both helmets the tan paint is more yellowish tan.
So that pattern has a precedent among WWII camos.

But I agree with Perry that better pictures are needed to judge the originality of the tan paint on that helmet.
I really need to get a digital camera and start posting pics myself.
John

[Edelweiss]

I've been told by the seller that this M.35 helmet (on the former page), was coming from Italy... "Wait and see", comme disent les Bretons.

[Willi Z.]

That last helmet camo is not very convincing, based on the photos.

Yes John, buy a camera.......you can get one for far less than a helmet...

Willi

[SgtB]

Hey Ben!

Back on page three of this thread you posted a great camo.
You later said that it is a two-color. Are you sure? I believe that
I can clearly see a green, brown and tan.

IMO even if a helmet has two colors added to it, and the
factory color shows through, it is a tri-color.

However, on the helmet you show, I can definitely see the
tan color showing through scratches in the green, which
tells me that all three colors are field applied. No?

[Edelweiss]

Still not convinced, Willi ???