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british Afrika / Italian warfare


raven-0815

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Good morning together,

I am new here in this forum,want to regard all collectors here !

Sorry for my Bad english, i come from germany! !

I want to Show You this helmet, bought here in germany from private.

Thanks for meanings and Identifikation!

Best regards armin

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2019-05-26 11.10.05.jpg

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Hi Armin,

welcome to the forum, I'm sure some of the forum members will be able to help identify your helmet :thumbsup:

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The badge looks similar to 1st Army, but I think they had a white spearhead on a red background.

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I've not seen that div sign before either, Leon is our Brodie expert he should be able to help but he sometimes only checks in every few days. 

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Okay,

Thanks!

I look some other sides in the web and found a similar sign on a brodie helmet used by the irish Brigade in tunesia, italy camaign, could it be?

Later i will introduce you a very rare m-42 Shell i become over 20 years ago from the region Siegen,the Village Plettenberg. At this time ,5 of this Freikorps-Sauerland Helmets are worldwide known!

I am very interesting , whats your impression!

Best regards armin

 

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Hi Armin,  Sorry I was rushing out yesterday so did not have much time, but after some research I think your helmet is Irish however it is formation sign for the Irish Eastern Command from the emergency period. During the Emergency period Southern Ireland was neutral so the helmet would only be used in Ireland and not in Tunisia.  The 38th Irish Brigade in Tunisia would have worn British uniforms as it was made up from 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion of the London Irish Rifles, 2nd and 6th Battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. It's still an interesting helmet and I'm sure Leon will be able to tell you more about it, as these were ex British helmets the markings should tell you who and where it was made. As regards the Sauerland helmet, these helmets are practically non existent and heavily faked, the decal seems to be in very good condition compared to the rest of the helmet, I would be very cautious. 

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Thank you Kenny for the Informations! !

The sauerland helmet must be good, i become it from a Farmer for less, played as he was a Child with this one , found it After the war there in the Woods and the hole time forgotten on the rooftop in the farmhouse! If i was there for work,installing a New gate, i ask him about the war in this Region !

He remember the helmet and give it to me and i was so glad,knowing of this rare item! The condition of the Shell is Not so bad as he looks on my pictures! I think 70% of original colour ! The condition of the decal matches with the rest of the Shell!

Thank you and best regards

Armin

 

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Hi Armin, if you got the helmet for free from a farmer, that is very good news and sounds promising :thumbsup: 

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Hi Kenny,

Yes, that is it what i mean!

If you look the decal with a strong Glas , you dont see any pixels like the known copies!!

Best regards

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The helmet looks like a cross between the later pattern Luftschutz helmet (also sometimes known as "Kradmelderhelm") and an M.42.  Difficult to say about the emblem, but the origin sounds convincing.

As for the first helmet, it is known that the Irish Free State army wore M.16 helmets, not the brody style - in this case, Model 1928 (with the horns) contract made by Vickers, with a bronze badge at the front with "FF"

I had an identical badge, exact period piece, many years ago. Unfortunately, did not appreciate the rareness and did not realise it was from one of those helmets, unfortunately traded on with many other items.

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As worn, photo from 1940 wartime. There was a general mobilisation in 1939/40.

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A pre-war border checkpoint. Rather dramatic!

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Hello Fritz,

Thank you for your impressions!

And thanks for the pictures, very interestant to see this m-16 helmet!

The m42 Shell is in germany called "Ausschuss-Helm", m35,40 +42 helmets with failures,failure ln the Hull and Bad Material, quality Check failed helmets, becomes the known Rim! they normaly used by Civil units, luftschutz,Police, red cross and late war by the volkssturm  (the freikorps was not better than units from official volkssturm,no Elite Status! !).

Best regards 👍

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Hi Fritz, following the start of WW2 or the "Emergency" as it was known in Ireland, the German-style M28 was replaced by British MkII helmets. In spite of its British manufacture, its ‘German’ style rendered it the butt of much anti-Irish British propaganda. Many of the withdrawn helmets were subsequently issued to various emergency services and painted white. Standard British MkII helmets were used by the neutral Irish Army from 1939 and remained in service until the 1960's. These were stenciled with the zone of command. This example of the Irish MkII steel helmet features the "Eastern Command" insignia on the front.

IrlMK2a.jpg

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Yes Kenny's quite right it's an Eastern Command insignia, description  by Imperial  War Museum reads yellow wool shield on which is embroidered

vertical spearhead in bronze/red for a shoulder patch.

Has your helmet any stamp marks on the inside of the rim or date marks to show the maker or when it was made.

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Hell leon,

Yes there are stamps Inside, 1 picture of it see above,but its a very bad and unsharp pic!

I will look for better pics and load it up.

The stamps are Hard to identify, the Shell is paint in camo sandgrey and i dont want to scratch on it!

Someone has an idea for testing the decal of the sauerland? With a sharp lense it looks great  and i think its authentic.

Best regards armin

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Have a look on the metal liner straps there should be maker and date marks on one of them also. try shining a bright light on the marks you

may be able to read them better,

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Here is a WW2 ( Irish Emergency Period ) edition of An Cosantoir dated 11 October 1941.

Images from other source.

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IMG_2933[1].jpg

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During the course of the war, the Irish Free State gradually and increasingly disregarded the principles of neutrality.  RAF aircrews, who force landed in the Free State were returned home after a short internment, on the other hand, those from the German forces interned were forced to stay for the duration of the war (Curragh Camp).  Despite this, the German Ambassador, Eduard Hempel remained till the end of the war in Dublin. The German Military Cemetery is in Glencree, containing all the German war graves in Ireland from both wars.
On the other hand, Iceland had been invaded by British forces shortly before the Norwegian Campaign, the Irish Free State probably wanted to avoid this, and therefore were cooperative with the Allies.  The British troops in Iceland were later relieved by US Forces. There had already been a build up of US Forces in Iceland long before the US entered the war, and US naval vessels had partly escorted convoys from the very beginning.  Pearl Harbour was only an issue to actively enter the war.

N.B.: The Irish Free State, along with Switzerland and the Vatikan were the only states to send condolences to the Reichsregierung on the death of Hitler. By that time, almost all countries worldwide had officially declared war on Germany.

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