M35 Chicken Wire Heer Helmet

Product Description: This M35 Chicken Wire Heer Helmet is a choice and exceptionally desirable example of a German Army combat helmet. This helmet was painted at the factory with typical, smooth, prewar apple green paint. During wartime, the exterior was then brush overpainted with matte field gray paint, and a single Heer decal was applied over this reissue paint. Approximately 90 percent of the reissue paint is still present on the exterior, with some areas of paint damage that reveal the prewar color underneath. The decal is about 75 percent intact. The paint and decal show pleasant patina from age. This helmet is complete with its original full basket chicken wire camouflage covering. The ends of the wire have been crimped under the skirt edge to fasten it in place. On the rear of the helmet, some of the wire has become undone, and is loose. There is good interaction visible between the wire and the helmet, leaving no doubt that this wire has always been there. There are also traces of paint visible on the wire.  The interior of this helmet is complete with its original liner. The liner is a typical prewar style, with an unreinforced aluminum liner band. The liner leather shows darkening from daily use during the war, but is intact and complete. The drawstring is present. The inside of the shell retains most of the original prewar smooth paint, and is size and maker stamped SE62 indicating manufacture by the firm of Sächsische Emailler- und Stanzewerke in Lauter. It’s also marked with the lot number, 3437. The original leather chinstrap is also present, but has been shortened, with 9 of the original 13 holes still present. This M35 Chicken Wire Heer Helmet is an outstanding, top shelf piece. Originals like this are very hard to find. This one rates as excellent.

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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