Camoflage helmet paint? Links

[Jean-Loup]

"If I made a statement based upon such evidence there would be hooting and proclamations that "you dont know what you are talking about" "

"This has been a good discussion and I appreciate and respect your position, except for the personal insults and statements that I "dont know what I'm talking about". "

This is getting off topic, but can you please show us where you were insulted in this thread, and where somebody (other then you) used the words "you dont know what you are talking about".

JL

[nutmeg]

I guess it is impossible that is dried mud or dirt smeared on it? You guys sure do make great leaps based upon indistinct and inconclusive pics If I made a statement based upon such evidence there would be hooting and proclamations that "you dont know what you are talking about" There are a couple other photographs of the HJ Div. with what are variant camo painted helmets. There is a better one than this of two of them running, looks like tan smeared.

Too chunky and textured looking for smeared mud. You might be too quick to dismiss evidence by others.

[Kapt. Krabs]

Too chunky and textured looking for smeared mud. You might be too quick to dismiss evidence by others.

Uhhh, whew Nutmeg (and I mean that good naturedly I guess European mud is different from US mud.....but it ranges here from liquid to extra chunky, just add water for less chunks

Jean Loup, perhaps it was "serious lack of knowledge", etc., but I'm not wading back through all that. I've got family members, military officers, who were stationed there through the 80s and who were, and one is, avid German helmet collectors, and I know collectors there, and I've been through Brussells and France and hit whatever militaria shops, markets, stores I could find.

There are more collectible original German helmets in the US from everything I've seen and experienced. That's no slight against anyone. The helmets there were scrapped, trashed, used as planters, feed carriers, krap buckets, reworked and placed in civil defense stores in various countries, used, etc. Europe didnt give much of a hoot about having Nazi relics about right after the war from what I understand, and for good reason. Goodnight, this one is beat to death.
regards,
Krabs

[erikofnorway]

I'm glad Norway is referenced. Where were all these Norwegian camoflage helmets 10 years ago?

I didn't want to jump into this discussion for several reasons, but I just couldn't help myself when I saw above statement. First of all I would like to ask Kapt Krabs what experience and knowledge he has about Norway, if he has ever been to Norway, or if he has ever studied what happened to German helmets in Norway. First of all, there were about 400,000 helmets in Norway at the end of the war. The vast majority of these were destroyed. Some went into post war service with the Norwegian military and some were taken as souveneers by Norwegians. The Norwegian collectors have taken good care of the camoflage helmets for many years. There are many Norwegian collectors with substantial helmet collections, they are just not known in Mississippi. One friend of mine has a collection that counts well over 200 helmets (Gulli knows him well), and I have a friend in Sweden (Anders Skotte) that collected helmets in Norway through the 1970's and 80's and ended up with around 500 or so. In these collections and others there are camo helmets of all types and in all sorts of "unapproved" colors and patterns. (Ever seen a blue SS helmet?) I have myself been all over the country buying helmets that were taken straight out of the atticks after being there since the war. I have in my collection several highly unconventional camo helmets from Norway in colors and types of paint that for sure were non issue. These helmets have never been in the US before I took them here, and they have never been fiddled with by a gunshow crowd.

The Germans used whatever they could get their hands on. Remember that there was shortage of just about everything during the war, including paint. The Germans would confiscate whatever they needed. In fact, they confiscated my grandfathers Dodge and pressed it into military service in Norway! If they needed paint and the Wehrmacht supplies were low, they would simply walk into the corner paint store and take what they wanted.

Erik

[Simon O.]

Excellent post Erik and thankyou for putting it so well.

What ended up in the US as 'vet bring backs' is only a tiny fraction from the limited area where US troops were deployed. I fully understand the efforts to try and establish ways of authenticating helmets given the insane prices they fetch these days. More so for those who live in countries where the only helmets they have access to are those in the collector\dealer community.

It's only in the last 10-20 years that increasing awareness in Europe as to the collectibillity of helmets has spread to people outside collecting circles. Up until 25-30 years ago helmets lay about in the woods and were of little interest to the locals who simply saw it all as rubbish from the war and in many cases still do. A good many people picked up lids they took a fancy to, not collectors as such but picked up in the same way you'd pick up an interesting shell on the beach. My inlaws have a lid fixed to the wall in the basement for example.

Personally i'm happy to obtain my lids through a little sweat and a few mosquito bites. At least i don't have any doubts as to their originality and my wallet doesn't get a heart attack.



A good friend of mine is, at the moment, on the trail of a couple of dumps that apparently contain hundreds of lids.

[Jan B]

A good friend of mine is, at the moment, on the trail of a couple of dumps that apparently contain hundreds of lids.

Simon

That sounds very interesting! Would he be so kind to take some pictures or the keep you (us) updated about his finds?

Cheers

Jan

[Simon O.]

Yes, if anything comes of this then sure. We're talking following up leads and getting landowners permission at the moment but if helmet heaven is discovered photos will be forthcoming

[Patrick Dempsey]

Off topic i know,

but perhaps our Norwegian members could start a thread concerning the subject of camoflage helmets from the occupation period?

I know this topic surfaced on the "GD" forum a few years back, but i am fairly sure that it has not received the attention it deserves over here.

I am sure it would be educational for all students of the period.

Fora such as these should be knitting together as many aspects of the subject as possible in the hope of becoming a true resource for a collector. I learned of the fairly unique situation with Norwegian occupation camoflage helmets almost by accident.

A gap in my knowledge that i am sure is repeated elsewhere around the globe.

Patrick.

[nutmeg]

Interesting film from another WAF link showing quickie camo spray painting of tank in the field



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI3NpjOM-ZU&mode=related&search

[Jean-Loup]

Since this thread came up again, here is a picture of camo barracks, far from the front line. These barracks happen to be italian, but I am sure there were similar barracks in Germany.

[Jean-Loup]

j

[Ken B.]

Interesting film from another WAF link showing quickie camo spray painting of tank in the field



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI3Np...related&search

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