A very sad HELMET!!

[jamesmccann]

Lovely M42

First of all its a lovely m42,and acording to the author of Battle for Berlin they where made for boy soildiers.So i assume we are talking about a size 60 shell. I recently got a tiny relic m35 with part of the wire harness still on it, and theres something sad about kids being caught up in the war . I guess the kid that wore it was about 12 or 13.good luck James/Ireland..................

[Perry Floyd]

I dont think a kid wore this one..53

[Perry Floyd]

Don't think this one was made for a kid either..54

[Edelweiss]

Another lid for small "size 53" heads made far before the end of the war...

[boyt44]

Here is an interesting photo of who might have been wearing those small helmets at war's end:

[Dave Kane]

What a wonderful picture!!!! Thanks.

True there were (small) men but considering the attrition rate from those in the military in 1935 and on.....This picture shows what it boiled down to!

Wonderful helmets as they are...I doubt they or their former (owners) saw much 'war' if one considers their condition!

Dave

[Sebastian Bianchi]

They made them even smaller....a 52..

The average man though was smaller than one of today..

Perry, why would you say that the average man was smaller than the one today? Even if that was true of body (due to weight lifting or other change in habits), the size of the head does not change much.

[boyt44]

Here is the original caption from the back of the photo:

HAA758063 WP New York Bureau

Kronach,Germany
S/Sgt Francis Dagget,Urbana,Ill. talks with a German boy,who looks 8,but is really 15 years old. He was one of a group of 15 and 16 year-old boys in Kronach who were ordered to don uniforms and head for Bavaria when US 11th Armored div troops entered the area. Instead of obeying, the boys, with their 22 year old leader, hid in the woods,then gave themselves up to the yanks. They discarded their uniforms and burnt them in the street of their town. Photo by Charles Haacker,Acme war pool photographer 4/27/45

[JuanS]

Hi

If he is 15 years old he must have a growth hormone problem?


Juan

[Eric Stahlhut]

Hi

If he is 15 years old he must have a growth hormone problem?


Juan

Perhaps he had a tin drum as well!

I think that what we are seeing in the photo could be proof of the effects of malnourishment due to the privations of war.

[MartyC]

size

In collecting tunics, hats, trousers, etc. I have always found that most of the items were small in size, ie size 94 CM chests, hats/ helmets for size 54CM. I have also found this in the collection of GI uniforms with size 36" chests and pants with size 28 inch waists, etc.

My conclusion has always been the nutrition of that era. We need to remember this was at the end of the great depression and many soldiers had been born during the 1920s when their diet may have been barely over 1000 calories. Poor nutrition at a young age does impact overall growth (not just the waistline!! )

Marty

[Dave Kane]

Does anyone know what "black bread" is????

My parents didn't even know what a bananna was until they were beyond their teens!

"Yanks" may have been a bit robust...but Europeans were even smaller!

Dave

[Perry Floyd]

Perry, why would you say that the average man was smaller than the one today? Even if that was true of body (due to weight lifting or other change in habits), the size of the head does not change much.

It was because of their diet since childbirth, much different than that of a man of the modern era. Same reason why the majority of hats uniforms are small of WWI, CW..

[jamesmccann]

Great Photo

Good but tragic photo of the german kid caught up in the war.As collectors though it gives us an idea of the age group that wore the small sizes.James/Ireland

[Frank Schneider]

Perry is right on the spot - don't forget that a lot of these youths grew up in the Depression, food often lacked the vitamins and minerals required when you are growing up. British also tended to be smaller than they are now. I think this was less the case in the US. Probably their diet was far better than European.
You can see small size helmets throughout the war; just that by the end of the war, they were no longer worn by "small grown-ups", but by kids. My late-war fj-helmet has a shell size 66, and a liner size of 52. Never saw pictures of kids in FJ units, so I won't speculate on this.

Frank.