Description
Product Description: A very nice Luftwaffe M40 German Camouflage Helmet in overall excellent condition. The exterior of this Luftwaffe M40 German Camouflage Helmet consists of a classic textured multi-color scheme of red, green, and tan. Nearly all of the camo paint remains intact. The “ghosted” Luftwaffe decal is still very visible on the wearers left side under the camo paint. The interior of this Luftwaffe German Camouflage Helmet has a rare to find camo painted skirt. The skirt is maker and size marked “SE64”, as well as lot number “1130”. The interior leather liner is remains intact with one area of flaking on the rear. The leather shows evidence of daily use with typical sweat and dirt staining. The helmet still retains its original chinstrap attached to the square bales of the steel banded liner system. Overall, a very nice M40 Luftwaffe German Camouflage Helmet.
Historical Description: The helmets used by WWII German soldiers were issued with a variety of solid paint colors applied at the factory. Different units deployed to combat zones had different methods to break up the iconic German helmet silhouette, for camouflage purposes. Some units issued fabric covers or camouflage nets. In other units, helmets were painted with camouflage colors. Among the most widely utilized camouflage paint finishes were solid tan for desert environments, solid white for winter use, and the tri-color camouflage scheme known to collectors as “Normandy” pattern camouflage. This camouflage style was certainly used in Normandy, famously by Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, and also by many other units. But it was also used by various units in all the occupied countries along the German-fortified “Atlantic Wall.” The Normandy camouflage scheme is characterized by the use of red, green, and tan/brown/yellow paint. In some cases, the entire helmet would be over sprayed with the tan base color, and then areas would be further over sprayed with the red and green. Other helmet painters chose to simply spray areas with the various colors. These paints were, generally speaking, the same pigments supplied to units for the purposes of camouflaging vehicles. The paint was usually applied in unit workshops, using industrial type spray guns, rather than by the soldiers themselves. Every painter had his own style, and there were probably infinite variations in the way the helmets were camouflaged. Normandy camouflaged helmets were regarded by enemy GI soldiers as attractive souvenirs, and they remain very desirable collectibles today.
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