Interesting Helmet Insignia

[Pieter Verbruggen]

If this bloke put the helmet in his house and forgot about it , and the GI's came and looted , you would have a German helmet with a period done big swastika on the front . My new theory is an enterprising French bloke in Normandy had a stall of helmets painted on the sides with swastikas that he sold to returning troops . Rob

This picture was taken in he Flemish part of Belgium.
Pieter.

[Dennis J]

I believe these were done post-war to make the helmets more appealing. They could have been done by the vets who brought them home, or, perhaps there was some enterprising person in Germany in the immediate postwar period who found he could get more cigarettes from a GI if he traded a helmet with a swastika on it. Or maybe some surplus shop owner in the US in the 1950s found that helmets decorated this way sold more quickly. Or a guy in a biker gang did these up for all his buddies decades ago. There is no wartime photo of a combat helmet worn in this configuration. I have no doubt these painted swastikas are old and show real age. 1962 was 50 years ago...

Uniforming and equipping the Volkssturm was something that was widely written about and publicized in 1944-1945. The various mandates and directives were widely disseminated. There is not a shred of evidence to suggest that Volkssturm troops were told to paint swastikas on their helmets. Finding uniforms of any kind for these men and dying these uniforms an acceptable shade was a huge challenge. Putting swastikas on helmets was not only a priority, it was never even on the table. All too often I have seen "Volkssturm" put forward to explain these hand-painted vet or souvenir art swastika jobs. This needs to stop until there is some evidence of any kind to support this.

I have to agree with the biker theory.I have bought many helmets from biker gangs that had swas just like some of these back in the 50's and 60's that they put on to look cool.I remember a friend who had his father put the swas on both sides of a mod 40 that was a no decal so when we played army everybody knew he was the nazi.This was in 1952,I think that the helmet is my collection that I gave my son.

All things to everyone http://youtu.be/7TC1xAnigX0
Dennis J

[Chad1]

What about the swastikas stenciled, decaled or painted on US aircraft to represent "kills"? Could it be that the same artists who did these on the aircraft might have done these after the end of hostilities on the souvenirs of their buddies, to add some visual interest? That might account for the similarities and is to me no less implausible than positing some unknown, undocumented, hypothetical wartime use.

I can't say for certain that some of these may or may not be post war, but i would say the above explanation is very unlikely. Just MHO.

[Dennis J]

Hi Chris,

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say "This needs to stop..."

We need to stop offering opinions of possible origins of this particular type of helmet?

Do we also need to stop calling helmets "Normandy camo" when we can't prove they were found in Normandy?

I think pronouncing something as postwar fantasy needs to stop just because there hasn't been a wartime photo found of "one" helmet looking a particular way.

I'm not pronouncing my helmets as Volksturm, or G.I. art pieces.

Actually, because I have more than a few of these, I think they may be something else. When I post more photos of the insides of each of my helmets, you'll see they liners and age of the finish make them look like any other "combat" captured helmets in any collection.

I don't think there was a particular shortage of helmets with swastikas on them in postwar Germany. Look at all the helmets posted on this forum and others over the last decade. Not every G.I. wanted a swastika helmet and most agreed upon soldier art helmets that I've seen, also have other icons or words on them besides swastikas.

I would guess that if a biker in the 1960's were going to paint these swastikas, he might also want to replace the leather and maybe even the wartime paint color of the shell. There were also decals available by then that might have been a more popular choice to decorate a helmet with.

I haven't seen any of this type of helmet with swastika decals posted yet. The swastikas are all hand painted and all are very cleanly done.

Sometime this past year, there was a photo posted on this site of what looks like an M35/40 helmet with a swastika on the side. It's a frame from one of the helmet production movies I think, with the helmet sitting on a table in front of the factory worker. I didn't think at the time to copy it. I'll look again for it.

Speaking of photos, I haven't yet seen a photo of a biker wearing one of these helmets, so following your logic, these can't be 1960's era add ons.

Believe me, I'm not trying to delude myself about the history or perceived value of any of my hemets.

I just think that the helmets shown in this thread and others, shouldn't be dismissed as something that couldn't possibly be pre 1945. We're still learning and discovering.


Mike

I do not know if your helmet is WW2 or not.But I do know for a fact that bikers did paint swas on helmet and left the liner c/s and every thing just as the helmet was found.I remember after the movie the young Lions many biker clubs(the one that comes to mind was the (Galloping Gooses)my best friend Micky Parks was a member and had a mod 40 helmet that he painted black and put a swas on one side and a large set of SS insg(painted)like the one in the movie The Young Lions.His friend a fellow member who was a real bad guy Rodger Silva(he was the enforcer of the club)They really did not like the cheap water decals that I gave them because they did not last......... so they just painted the swas on themselves.Rodger had a nice no decal trannie that he painted a white swas on the front of the helmet.Another thing back in those days they did not have helmet laws for bikes like they do to day and clubs like Gooses,Pagens and Hells Angles did not give a F about the laws.
All things to everyone.

Dennis J

[Dennis J]

Here is an old one I found in the attic at home.I don't remember it being there but here it is.Post war painted.
Dennis J

[S. McKibben]

Dennis,Thats early model Civic Police. There is a example exactly like it in one of my books.

[Dennis J]

Dennis,Thats early model Civic Police. There is a example exactly like it in one of my books.

Here is the other side.As you can see someone tried to add to the shield decal by painting it.

[Dennis J]

The liner of the helmet.

Dennis J

[PBR]

I think this belongs here.
Found on the net.