Is this a Normandy M40?

Here is my Ants Brothers helmet he used for riding a bike....... I found it on a shelf during a Christmas Party. It’s a Quest M40 SD Heer, tri color spay camo. To my untrained eyes it appears to be a Normandy Camo with a “period used us M1 helmet chin strap brass buckle”? Am I on the money? I did not have the time to find the year on the helmet band.

Sorry about the poor grammar, I’m running on a hour sleep for two days due to work.....

More pictures

looks very nice and legit.. I'm not sure about when the M1 chin strap was added. I have seen a few German helmets where British chin straps we added.

All it needs is that sticker carefully removed.

To me, that is what you call "Americana" right there, as is. I wouldn't even remove the sticker or add a liner. As a kid, this is the kind of stuff I played with - stick some mattress foam up there and play army (or ride your "harley").

I disagree in this case...... If it was painted black or chromed sure why not !! helmet is too original and desiarable IMHO.

Very nice helmet and highly desirable (at least to me). Yes, I'd very carefully take that sticker off. I'd probably take that chin strap off too.

Thanks for the positive feedback, for the time being I’m going to keep it as is. The man who put the sticker on it is longer with us.

Safe Travels

This is the camo scheme I think of when a Normandy pattern helmet is discussed. This one has been in the family since my uncle, a member of the US 66th Infantry Division, took it as a souvenir at the surrender of the Britany port of St. Nazaire in May, 1945. The helmet was daubed with concrete and then brush painted in three colors, green, dark sand, and reddish brown. It's an M40 helmet. The stamps in the steel read ET64, and on the rear skirt, 178. A name, Rea, was neatly painted in white in the same place, but has mostly faded. The tip of the chin strap is marked OTTO HAMBURG 1940. There's a fine layer of rust everywhere, but I'm leaving it that way. Yes, I played with it outdoors as a kid.

Normandy camo is a collectors term.. But, I feel it was derived from items brought back from that campaign. This would have been the first place the US forces had encountered this new camo pattern.

Your helmet posted to me is more in tune with a KM Atlantic way type camo. I have seen some fantastic camos linked to KM coastal batteries. And where you mention it was taken from Proves that. Probably the largest coastal KM fort in france.

Looking at the yellow and red it reminds me very much of one I just bought.

I have really dove deep into German helmet collecting..

Id love to see clearer photos of it..

Wow

tsmgguy said:

This is the camo pattern I think of when a Normandy helmet is discussed. This one has been in the family since my uncle, a member of the US 66th Infantry Division, took it as a souvenir at the surrender of the Britany port of St. Nazaire in May, 1945. The helmet was daubed with concrete and then brush painted in three colors, green, sand, and brown. It's an M40 helmet. The stamps in the steel read ET64, and on the rear skirt, 178. A name, Rea, was neatly painted in white in the same place, but has mostly faded. The tip of the chin strap is marked OTTO HAMBURG 1940. There's a fine layer of rust everywhere, but I'm leaving it that way. Yes, I played with it outdoors as a kid.

Click to expand...

Nice lid...would like to see some close ups and clearer pics.

Cool original camo, that a kid played with and put a Harley sticker on. The liner was torn up by kids pushing it down on their heads and such. Many nice camos suffered such fates and ended up in garbage cans in the 50s-70s. The "Normandy" pattern would be more like this:

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?11822-M-40-Lw-camo-twins-vet-mailing-label

....which pattern is actually called "Ambush Pattern" and consists of Dunkelgelb RAL 1028 or tan base, with green and redbrown oversprayed. It was for all areas of Europe, wherever it worked, not simply Normandy.