DESCRIPTION
This helmet came from an advanced collector looking to downsize a few of his pieces. In recent years there seems to be less and less M35 Heer DD and now Luftwaffe DD on the marketplace. My best guess is that most of these have been snatched up by private collectors and only ever see the light of day when that collector leaves it behind in their estate or when collectors themselves are trading out helmets between themselves or to dealers.
If I could wind back the hands of time to 1945 and walk around European battlefields to go helmet picking I would still only see about 1/10 helmets with original M35 apple Heer green or Luftwaffe blue gray paint left on them. As we know the Wehrmacht High Command in March 1940 ordered the removal of all national and party shields for better concealment in the field. As a result many soldiers who knew they would eventually come into contact with enemy forces hastily painted over their shiny M35 helmets opting for a darker, flatter textured finished like what was already taking place at the factories.
Fortunately for us collectors some of these helmets fell through the cracks and were completely left alone like this one which only had it's national
tri-color shield neatly removed possibly via combat knife or bayonet.
What we are left with is this wonderful example of a factory issued double decal Luftwaffe helmet in a dark blue gray enamel finish using the European RAL color code 7016 and produced in June of 1939 according to Brian Ice's lot data book. At the time both decals were being proudly added until the German soldier himself decided remove the national shield as per ordered.
This helmet is truly a wonderful find since no other modifications were made since it left the factory floor in 1939. This M35 helmet is a large size Quist 66 (Q66) with a rear lot number of 4314 and a re-enforced aluminum liner band with square chinstrap bales dated 1939. The leather is made from high end soft calf skin and ink stamped 58 on one of the tongues.
Both the original drawstring and chinstrap are fully intact with the chinstrap being full length and never shortened with all 13 holes still present and an early war painted aluminum buckle. Original dome stamp still present and dated 1939. The Luftwaffe eagle is about 95% still in tact with only a slight bending of one of the arms of the "bent cross" clutched in the eagle's talons due to a minor application error at the factory. As a professional restorer I can attest to how flimsy and delicate Luftwaffe decals are making them somewhat difficult to work with and prone to twisting around on you when trying to apply them.
All in all a wonderful example and worthy of investment of an untouched double decal Luftwaffe helmet from 1939.
$1600
Please call, text or email me if interested.
Tel/Text: 1-438-502-5052
Email Us: helmetsofwar@gmail.com
HELMETS OF WAR INC.
PO Box 555
Champlain, NY 12919-0555
Shipping to Anywhere USA/Canada: $22 with full tracking numbers.
Shipping to Europe/UK: $65 with full tracking numbers.
Shipping to Australia/New Zealand: $75 with full tracking numbers.
(Please contact us with any special shipping instructions as I am here to serve and facilitate the shipment.)
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
