Third Party Press

M.40 Helmet w/net Normandy ID'd

Beautiful helmet and excellent job on the researching of it's previous owner. Your post of the Maisy Battery is very timely for me. I just finished a book on Point Du Hoc and visited it while touring the Normandy Coast back in 2001. It sure has changed since then and that's a good thing to see, that they are doing more preservation work on the trench system.
 
I'm not sure what point that article is trying to make. It's like saying today that in hindsight Iwo Jima was not really a strategically important island. It takes nothing away from the sacrifice of the men who fought over those pieces of dirt.

It's the New York Times.
 
takes nothing away from the sacrifice of the men who fought over those pieces of dirt.

I would say the article does exactly that [ takes nothing from what those men did ] but it does expose a bit of the myth-making that always surrounds great events and clears a bit of the fog of war and gives us a clearer view of the actual battle. - which I would say is always a good thing and that it brings a truer understanding of the event - and greater honor to those who were actually there.
 
Unusual twist. I was speaking to my neighbor about a Normandy trip he took a couple years back and in mentioning the highlights he spoke of the Maisy battery site. I told him that I had a German helmet with a net souvenired there and that I had corresponded with the nice English fellow who owned the site and I needed to go. He said his wife had bought him the book about the site and I could borrow it. Thumbing through it, low and behold........
 

Attachments

  • Cover Up Maisy Cover sz..JPG
    Cover Up Maisy Cover sz..JPG
    99.7 KB · Views: 30
  • Cover Up Maisy pic page sz.JPG
    Cover Up Maisy pic page sz.JPG
    142.6 KB · Views: 27
  • Cover Up Maisy text hl sz.jpg
    Cover Up Maisy text hl sz.jpg
    60.5 KB · Views: 35
  • Cover Up Maisy text sz.jpg
    Cover Up Maisy text sz.jpg
    132.1 KB · Views: 35
That's terrific! What were the odds of the man's name and helmet being mentioned in a book and then you happening upon that very book!!
 
That's terrific! What were the odds of the man's name and helmet being mentioned in a book and then you happening upon that very book!!

Well, pretty good as I’ve spoken to the author as he found this thread and asked if he could have a couple hirez pics of the helmet ;) I had just forgotten about it.
 

Military Rifle Journal
Back
Top