Here is a beautiful example of a mid-war Luftwaffe M40 SE64 helmet made at the Sachsische Emaillier u. Stanzwerkein factory in Lauter, Germany. The rear apron is stamped with lot number of 12167 placing it's production year to mid 1940. According to Brian Ice's lot data book the same helmet in the same size and with 12167 rear lot number was attributed to a Herman Goring Division so this one most likely was part of that elite fighting force.
The original Luftwaffe blue gray (blau-grau) paint has survived remarkably well with only a few minor surface rust spots along the left side of the front brim. The inside leather is still soft and subtle with no tears or rips in the leather fingers. The Luftwaffe adler/eagle is 98% in tact and still in it's original ivory white color without darkening or fading. This helmet came from a private non-collector out of AZ who inherited from his wife's uncle who got it from his father who I was told did serve in the war. Most of these helmets come from a long line of owners before they reach this website and so at least with this one we can more or less trace it back. Based on it's remarkable condition this helmet either belonged to an administrative type soldier or possibly an officer as it is definitely worn during the war but never battered or abused. A true survivor of the war and kept in perfect condition by the family who sold it to me.
The Luftwaffe pattern national eagle was originally introduced for wear by Fliegerschaft, (Pilot Base), personnel of the DLV, Deutscher Luftsportsverband, (German Air Sports Association), the clandestine, civilian, forerunner of the Luftwaffe on August 18TH 1934, and adopted for wear by the Luftwaffe on March 1ST 1935 along with the national tri-color shield for wear on the helmet. The first pattern national eagle was utilized until a modified second pattern eagle was introduced in late 1936 or early 1937. Regulations of June 12TH 1940 discontinued the use of the national tri-color decal and further regulations of August 28TH 1943 abolished the national eagle decal and dictated that it was also to be removed from all helmets although the directives were not completely adhered to
$1400 SOLD
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Tel/Text: 1-438-502-5052
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GERMAN HELMET FACTORY PRODUCTION CODES
(Every original German helmet produced from 1935 to 45 had two factory stampings punched into the side and rear or both in the rear. The alpha numeric number refers to the factory location and the inside metric circumference in centimeters. The rear lot number refers to the production run and was used as a quality control measure. The font styles used at each factory were slightly different but highly consistent throughout the war and so fakes or reproductions will either not have these numbers at all or they will use the wrong font style or letter spacing and so are easily identified as post war made.)
(FS or EF)-Emaillierwerke AG, Fulda, Germany
(ET or ckl)-Eisenhuttenwerke, Thale, Germany
(Q)-Quist, Esslingen, Germany
(NS)-Vereinigte Deutsche Nikelwerke, Schwerte, Germany
(SE or hkp)-Sachsische Emaillier u. Stanzwerke, Lauter, Germany
