German SS Helmet M40 – Single Decal ET64

 Product Description: This German SS Helmet M40 is an outstanding example of this quintessential wartime combat helmet. This is an all-original piece. It was left in Finland by a wounded German SS soldier, who was taken care of by the seller’s grandmother, a nurse who worked for the Finnish Lotta Svard organization. The exterior of this helmet retains nearly all of the original factory applied paint. There is only very minor wear, with a slight age patina. The single SS runic decal is a textbook ET type, matching the maker of the shell. It shows a bit of wear but remains 80 percent intact, with excellent eye appeal. Inside, this German SS Helmet M40 is complete with its original liner. The liner band is a correct wartime steel type. The liner leather is very well-preserved and complete, showing honest wear and only light age. A name written in the liner has been scratched out, possibly indicating this helmet may have been worn by more than one soldier. The draw string is intact. The bales on the liner band retain a complete original chin strap, which has an aluminum buckle. The tip of the long end of the chin strap is maker marked and dated 1940. There is no indication that any component of this helmet has ever been changed or messed with in any way. The inside of the skirt is size and maker stamped “ET64” and is also stamped with the lot number “60,” likely early in the production of the M40 helmet. This is a top shelf helmet, that remains in excellent condition.

Historical Description: When the German Army first marched into war in 1914, it went to the front lines wearing the traditional “Picklehaube” helmets. The war soon developed to necessitate the need for an improved headgear to protect the wearer. The German Army developed the M16 helmet in 1915 and began issuing it in mass quantity to its fighting troops in 1916. The M16 underwent changes to bring about the next model, the M18. Both the M16 and M18 saw use by the German Army during WW1, as well as the interwar years by the Reichswehr and Freikorps. In 1931, a new liner system was developed. The M16 and M18 helmets were in mass supply right up to the time the Nazi Party took control of the German government. During Adolf Hitler’s rearming of the German military in the early 1930’s, the M16 and M18 helmets saw extensive refitting with the newer liner system, fresh paint, and the addition of a centralized decal system for the newly formed Wehrmacht’s respective branches. Decals were generally placed on each side of the helmet, one side being the branch and the other the national colors shield or party shield. In 1935, the M35 helmet was introduced. This new design was lighter and more streamlined than the older style helmets and is what the world now recognizes as the iconic helmet of the German Military. M35 helmets can most easily be identified from the separate rivet ventholes and rolled edges. With the outbreak of war, some changes were made to bring in a new model, the M40. The changes made to this new model was the use of a more matte field grey finish and the vent holes were now integral to the helmets shell. In 1940, the national colors decals and party shields were ordered to be removed. It should be noted that many M35 helmets were brought up to date by repainting them with the matte field grey finish and/or other modifications if necessary. These refitted helmets are what collectors now term “reissue helmets”. The next model helmet to evolve was the M42. The model M42 has the same features of the M40 with the exception of the edges of the helmet not being rolled and remain flared. This was to speed up production and lower cost as the war dragged on and the German economy began changing to a total war economy. In 1943 all decals were ordered to be removed from combat helmets.

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