First up for your viewing pleasure View attachment 14448 is a M40....believe it or not, the helmet is all there, just been formed into a wierd shape.....Theories??? Second is a named M17 with WW2 chicken wire..... I love these two...... View attachment 14447
The chicken wire seems to be an addition. The M-17 looks good enough, if not better without it. The M-40 may have been crushed by an heavy panzer type vehicle that probably drove it into the ground due to excessive weight. I doubt this damage was done by an explosion.
I hve been told the M 17 was a reissue, volksturm or coastal defence, either way it looks good, and it is a solid M17 regardless.Someone has suggested that the M 40 may have been inside a vehicle that was destroyed and it was forced into some part of the interior of the vehicle......who knowsThanks for your input, I have been told to rip the chicken wire off, but I feel no matter whrn it was placed, it is still part of the history of the helmet The M17 only cost me 100 bucks....
100 bucks is a very fair price. With part of the inside left it's worth around 180-200 $. Leave the chichen wire if you wish but Idoubt the Voksturm used it as such. In 1945 there were plenty of modern helmets avalaible , you just had to pick them up on the battlefields. The M-17 were used in the 30s, sometimes in the 40s but they were progressively replaced and the recycled ones were repainted with Wehrmacht colours: yours still has the WWI paint. I still support the rolled over theory for the M-40
I appreciate all your feedback and ideas.....I like them in my collection, something a bit different and causes a lot of friendly debate!!!Cheers mate Thanks for the information on the WW1 paint....I didn't even notice the "64" ink stamp till tonight, this throng hose dome and skirt stamps, and the remaining liner and nam is nice
It's possible that the M40 may have been very close to an explosion, hence warped like it now is......would a vehicle/tank not crush the helmet in completely? where as a blast coming from the direction of the helmet dome would bend/warp in the sides like shown? For example the M16 below is concussion warped (to a lesser extent than your M40) Also to note is that there are no stress cracks formed by the blast, again like your M40
I'm with the blast/explosion damage theory on this one. It's similar damage(although not as severe)on the M42 I picked up at a militaria fair in Normandy back in June of this year.
I'm not certain about that, I'd have expected splinters and holes in it but you could be right. As to the crush theory, if it was rolled over on a wet sandy ground it could have sank into the clay/sand before being completely crushed and emerge immediately before being put into the ground again.
Thank you sll all for your intelligent friendly comments. Love the photos of helmets on similar damage....great referencers. Showed this helmet on another forum and was basically ridiculed for mu theories, someone even thought I had faked it!!!