BACKGROUND
With Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’s appointment to Chef der Deutschen Polizei im Reichsministerium des Innern, on June 17TH 1936, he effectively had full control of all the police agencies within Germany. As a result of this appointment and the restructuring of all the separate German state police into a single national police force new regulations were instituted to bring about uniformity in dress for all police through-out the country. The new dress regulations included an attempt to standardize the helmets of the police and on July 28TH 1936 regulations once again altered the insignia on the police helmets with the new wreathed police eagle emblem to be applied to the left side of the helmet and the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), party shield applied to the right side. These helmet decals maintained the same basic design until the end of the war with the exception that in early 1940 the black polizei shield now featured a silver border line around the outside edge. From this small detail we can make some basic assumptions as to when the decals were applied i.e. pre-1940 or 1940-45. After 1940 there are also two main silver bordered polizei decals being the Quist, NS version with the 6 eagle's toes and the ET, SE, EF version which has t-shaped crosses acting as talons.
DESCRIPTION
Everything you see in the photos will be sent along with the helmet as part of a Mr. Frazier's war souvenirs brought back directly from WW2 in hopes of keeping everything together as found.
This particular helmet is actually the first M17 (Austrian model) double decal polizei (police) helmet I've ever held in hand. These helmets were meant for military police units attached to front line Wehrmacht troops to arrest and sometimes execute any German soldiers guilty of not obeying orders or for any dereliction of duty. These polizei front line units are considered to be combat police and so always wore helmets similar to the German soldiers they were watching over i.e. WW1, M35, M40 or M42. The M34 civilian or light weight parade style double decals polizei helmets were for civilian use only and were worn in German cities, rural areas or parade squares. This particular helmet is a front line combat military police helmet ready to take a shrapnel hit or deflect a bullet.
This helmet came to me directly by way of the son of a genuine WW2 veteran named Vernon M. Frazier born 11/7/1924 in Lansing, MI and passed away 03/07/2011. Private Frazier was enlisted in D Company, 1st Battalion, 319th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division and spent his initial military training at Camp Laguna in Riverside County, CA. He was so proud of his service and many recollections of the war that he even wrote a self published book entitled " Journal of Vern Frazier's War Years 1943-45 - An Eyewitness to War". His son told me that like most veterans of WW2, he did not speak about his time and so did not know much about it besides what his father later wrote in his book.
This helmet is basically an attic find as it was never displayed online until now nor has it even seen the inside of a military show or been part of any private collection. In terms of originality it is a one looker and quite rare representing a pre-war to very early war example of a front line combat double decal polizei helmet.
Among the other items in Mr. Frazier's estate included medals and insignia related to his own service in the US army as well as other German polizei insignia which I believe were more than likely part of the original German soldier's affects as they match up perfectly with the helmet. The fact that this German named helmet would have been issued sometimes in the last 1930's suggests that the soldier may have been old enough to have participated in WW1 and so achieved the medals as shown below. These original German items came home with the helmet and include the following: second pattern silver washed police cap badge (circa 1936-44), a polizei nickel plated walking out dress bayonet by Carl Eickhorn, black wound badge, 1939 War Merit Medal, WW1 1914 Iron Cross with Original Ribbon, WW1 "Furg Dagerland" 1914 Medal, and a late war captured German WsuCL spork initialed V.F for Vernon Frazier (he must have preferred using this during the war to his own GI issued cutlery).
Also included in this collection as the insignia and awards from Vernon himself and include the following: US army KW lighter D Company engraved, WW2 Good Conduct Medal, 80th Division Blue Ridge Patch, 4 Campaign Ribbon Bar (European, African and Middle Eastern), Bronze Star Bar, Eagle Cap Badge, WW2 Booklets, Ruptured Duck patch.
THE HELMET ITSELF
The helmet is rather rare as it's an M17 Austrian model that would have been produced at the factory sometime in 1917-18 in WW1 for the Austrian army. Later after WW1 and before WW2 we see a lot of these helmets heading over to Germany to be used by early Waffen-SS formations and other elite units used them for parade and guard duty. The fact that this double decal polizei helmet has the early war non-silver bordered decal suggests it would have been originally issued sometime between 1935-39 after which they started using the silver bordered version. Both the outside and inside paint color match perfectly and is a dark blue gray enamel color indicative of early war police units. Both decals are original to the helmet and untouched since they were first applied with the helmet's original 3 finger leather liner still intact and soldier named "Franz Gross" and so it highly researchable. The original wide leather transitional chinstrap still maintains it's buckle end with the long end missing. This long end is a basic transitional roller buckle version and they do make reproductions of it in the $35 range online to complete the helmet is one so chooses. As mentioned above the helmet is a real "one looker" and untouched since the end of the war picked up by Mr. Frazier along with all of the other war souvenirs as photographed.
$1850 SOLD
(Priced very reasonably as I would just like to see the collection go to a good home where it will be displayed and appreciated.)
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.
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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
