M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

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DER SOLDATEN
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M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by DER SOLDATEN »

OK I'm sure this has been covered a 10000000000000000 and 1 times but I really don't know (sorry)!!!!
Does anyone know of pictures or any historical evidence of M35 apple green helmet being used in the field in 1941 without being repainted.
This is dd apple green! I say know, other say yes. But if someone knows the real story please share; as I have learned anything is possible.
What is the oldest known M35 apple green dd on record(year) in service.
I'm ready for the hate mail :P .
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by m1steelpot »

Color is hard to discern in period photos.

1945 would be the last time they were used in WW2.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by DER SOLDATEN »

m1steelpot wrote:Color is hard to discern in period photos.

1945 would be the last time they were used in WW2.
Not for the apple green it is very shinney and the dark green and gray are dull.Even when dirty.This was the reason for doing away with the color.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by DER SOLDATEN »

But as I said anything is possible, my father has a few M35s in his collection that were brush painted with late war gray. Some of the paint even got on to the liner,so the were doing this quickly. The decals come through the paint (cracked and peeled) to show the lacquered eagle and nation decal.
it was also mixed with dirt. He has more than one. One of them is in UN-reissue condition.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by DER SOLDATEN »

DER SOLDATEN wrote:
m1steelpot wrote:Color is hard to discern in period photos.

1945 would be the last time they were used in WW2.
Not for the apple green it is very shinney and the dark green and gray are dull.Even when dirty.This was the reason for doing away with the color.
Image
note the shine and decals.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Mooyman »

I remember that they used apple green during the invasion of Tsjechie

I'ts better to paint your 2 decal m35 smooth feldgrau because the apple colour is not much used
in the war.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Sheikh Al Stranghi »

Depends on the unit and type of job. Frontline units were far more likely to paint their helmets with dark, textured paint. Rear area units would not be in a hurry... Yes, in 1941 you would still see a lot of them. Up to 1943 you see a lot DD's in LW units, less in Heer. But there's a reason there are still so many original apple green DD's in collections today... For 1941 it's no problem, anything later and I'd go with a repaint. But as said: even in 1945 you could get an old DD one from the helmet stacks .... I wouldn't bother with a field grey DD.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Mooyman »

Alot of apples in 1941?

Wich units then,hard to say from a black and white picture....
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by m1steelpot »

Sheikh Al Stranghi wrote:Depends on the unit and type of job. Frontline units were far more likely to paint their helmets with dark, textured paint. Rear area units would not be in a hurry... Yes, in 1941 you would still see a lot of them. Up to 1943 you see a lot DD's in LW units, less in Heer. But there's a reason there are still so many original apple green DD's in collections today... For 1941 it's no problem, anything later and I'd go with a repaint. But as said: even in 1945 you could get an old DD one from the helmet stacks .... I wouldn't bother with a field grey DD.
Exactly. I remember seeing one example of a DD Heer M35 worn by a Hauptmann with a D-ring attached on the back flare for attachment to the Y-Straps.

If you're doing a frontline Heer combat impression post 1941, I would certainly go with a repainted M35, either ND or SD (depending on pre '43 or post), an SD or ND M40, or an SD or ND M42. Or a beaten to hell M35 with remnants of the decals left, if you want to have a "veteran" look.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by DER SOLDATEN »

m1steelpot wrote:
Sheikh Al Stranghi wrote:Depends on the unit and type of job. Frontline units were far more likely to paint their helmets with dark, textured paint. Rear area units would not be in a hurry... Yes, in 1941 you would still see a lot of them. Up to 1943 you see a lot DD's in LW units, less in Heer. But there's a reason there are still so many original apple green DD's in collections today... For 1941 it's no problem, anything later and I'd go with a repaint. But as said: even in 1945 you could get an old DD one from the helmet stacks .... I wouldn't bother with a field grey DD.
Exactly. I remember seeing one example of a DD Heer M35 worn by a Hauptmann with a D-ring attached on the back flare for attachment to the Y-Straps.

If you're doing a frontline Heer combat impression post 1941, I would certainly go with a repainted M35, either ND or SD (depending on pre '43 or post), an SD or ND M40, or an SD or ND M42. Or a beaten to hell M35 with remnants of the decals left, if you want to have a "veteran" look.
I wonder how beaten a helmet would get in combat. I know shrapnel and and dirt. But what else; did the Germans use them to pound in tent stakes like G.I.s?I mean when is too much aging too much. Does anyone have any photos of actual combat photos of "beaten helmets". I wonder about this because the originals you see are damn near 70 = years old and have gone through a war plus tons of dealers dropping the helmet and it rolling around in trunks. This is the head of you body inside of this thing.I know I have hit my helmet a few time here and there in reenacting. This maybe a silly question :? But its only 4 or 5 years and if you helmet got hit by a bullet ... game over.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by m1steelpot »

DER SOLDATEN wrote:
m1steelpot wrote:
Sheikh Al Stranghi wrote:Depends on the unit and type of job. Frontline units were far more likely to paint their helmets with dark, textured paint. Rear area units would not be in a hurry... Yes, in 1941 you would still see a lot of them. Up to 1943 you see a lot DD's in LW units, less in Heer. But there's a reason there are still so many original apple green DD's in collections today... For 1941 it's no problem, anything later and I'd go with a repaint. But as said: even in 1945 you could get an old DD one from the helmet stacks .... I wouldn't bother with a field grey DD.
Exactly. I remember seeing one example of a DD Heer M35 worn by a Hauptmann with a D-ring attached on the back flare for attachment to the Y-Straps.

If you're doing a frontline Heer combat impression post 1941, I would certainly go with a repainted M35, either ND or SD (depending on pre '43 or post), an SD or ND M40, or an SD or ND M42. Or a beaten to hell M35 with remnants of the decals left, if you want to have a "veteran" look.
I wonder how beaten a helmet would get in combat. I know shrapnel and and dirt. But what else; did the Germans use them to pound in tent stakes like G.I.s?I mean when is too much aging too much. Does anyone have any photos of actual combat photos of "beaten helmets". I wonder about this because the originals you see are damn near 70 = years old and have gone through a war plus tons of dealers dropping the helmet and it rolling around in trunks. This is the head of you body inside of this thing.I know I have hit my helmet a few time here and there in reenacting. This maybe a silly question :? But its only 4 or 5 years and if you helmet got hit by a bullet ... game over.
By "beat-up" I didn't mean banged up and destroyed. I mean thoroughly used. Decals flaked off, scratched up, and paint wear on the split pins and edges.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Sturmgeist »

DD helmet on the cross in the background. Difficult to tell from this particular file but I have a larger version somewhere. Circa April 1944.

Image

Anything is possible. A tunic was a tunic, a helmet was a helmet. No one really cared. But some things were certainly more commonly found than others, and there were "rare" combinations.
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Pug42 »

The pic is a coloured B&W though?
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Re: M35 helmets in 1941 - 1945

Post by Sturmgeist »

Image


Here ya go.
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