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M.40 Heer "DAK" EF.62 697

Hambone

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Staff member
M.40 H "DAK" EF.62 697. Same color as some of my other Afrika Korps attributed helmets, but who knows. Looks like the same color as those in the Time-Life color pics of that surrender pile in Tunisia. Untouched, recent funshow walk in, purportedly from the vet's grandson, but that's a story. Has that cool smell we like and dust buildup and thankfully no one tried to "clean" it. Apparent vet name, "COSTIN" neatly scratched into the camo paint on the front. Seen this before. Paint named in the skirt to "Uffz. Körner" in the same color paint as the camo. This is cool because it shows the color of the paint closer to the color as originally applied, not as exposed to weather and aging. I think it significant that when this helmet was camo'd the decal was carefully painted around. The Afrika Korps was no more in May 1943. The decal drop / removal / paint over order came in August of 1943.

Cheers,
HB

Some period color pics of a helmet capture pile in the El Guettar Valley in Tunisia by Time Life photographer Eliot Elisofon for reference:
helmets El Guettar Valley LIFE Eliot Elisofon (1).jpg helmets El Guettar Valley LIFE Eliot Elisofon (3).jpg
 

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The helmet Gods will say, “ how dare you buy such a tiny pot”. Ridiculous

Yes, if it was an EF.66 I’d be happier but I wouldn’t kick Mila Kunis out of bed for eating crackers ;)
 
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That is really frickin' cool....definitely a primo example of DAK helmet...but, damn those 62 shells are small! They look like kids helmets...

Really awesome Ham!
 
Not all German soldier were large blond demi gods. :laugh:


Nice helmet Hambone!

Oh, everyone back then was generally smaller...I just looked at a nice early apple green double decal army for a guy, a 62, so small...

And Picklehaub's...I've seen them so small they look like they'd fit on a softball...

And uniforms? Lots of stuff that would fit a 10-12 year old now...amazing what almost 80 years of much better nutrition will do...
 
Oh, everyone back then was generally smaller...I just looked at a nice early apple green double decal army for a guy, a 62, so small...

And Picklehaub's...I've seen them so small they look like they'd fit on a softball...

And uniforms? Lots of stuff that would fit a 10-12 year old now...amazing what almost 80 years of much better nutrition will do...

The difference is even bigger if you compare present day measurements with those of the Napoleonic wars, the rather rare big fellows that would have filled up the ranks of the grenadiers are now just average size.
 
Thanks fellas, CanAR. I have a special interest in North African / Italian campaign artifacts, including British/Canadian/Commonwealth. It's hard to conclusively ID a helmet as DAK, unless it is the proper color, FPN, and has some reliable provenance. I've seen helmets with good DAK (Tunisia) provenance that were not camo painted in any way. This one is definite DAK, and has been camoed twice, first an early DAK pattern (Libyan desert / orange tan) then a later tan / green for Tunisia. However, the tan / green colors were also used in Italy, France, and Europe.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?31765-M-40-Luft-DAK-Camo-88-Regt-Named-KIA
 
niice one ! I just picked up another as well.. Oddly enough also an EF with HJ&k decal. Will post some pics when time allows.
 
The difference is even bigger if you compare present day measurements with those of the Napoleonic wars, the rather rare big fellows that would have filled up the ranks of the grenadiers are now just average size.

I went to a museum that had Civil War uniforms from both sides.The uniforms were so small that they looked like children`s clothes.

Great helmet Ham. Makes me want to start collecting them, not going to start that though, got enough collectitises as it is.
 
Thank you Mark. Would love to see any DAK helmets and items you have.
Cheers,
HB
 
Hi,
Here's one recoverd from a dumpster only last year.Sorry for my limited photo skills, as can be seen it's a size 60 .would say by the interior colour that it's Luftwaffe and ideas as to the chinstrap marking.
Mark
 

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