Italian camos (plenty of fakes) are much harder to find than German. It's also difficult to find a named Italian helmet. For many years I thought the guy's name was "Benussiettore", not "Benussi, Ettore". I bought this from a pawn/jewelry shop owner in a small southern town for $50 back in the late 80s. It was basically thrown in on a deal involved about 12 Jap. T14 pistols I purchased to sell. An Italian collector researched the name for me "CN Benussi, Ettore", or Blackshirt Hector Benussi:
"There was 3 brothers: Benussi Pietro,Antonio,Ettore.... 2° regiment of MDT in Istria. ° regiment "ISTRIA" MDT(Milizia difesa territoriale) field defence group located at "Pola" to defend the city from the Tito's communist partisan attacks... There is a lot of History about this regiment!"
Ettore (Hector), the owner of the helmet, and his two brothers Pietro and Antonio served in the 2 Regt. MDT (RSI). Antonio was shot on May 10, 1945:
I haven't researched Blackshirt Ettore Benussi yet, I think that may require Italian reference. This helmet has been featured in an excellent book on Italian militaria.
Some information on the unit:
2. Reggimento Milizia Difesa Territoriale “Istria”
The 2. Rgt. MDT „Istria“ was employed on the Istria peninsula from late 1943 to May 1945, for control of the territory, protection of transport and communication lines and fighting the partisans. It had several armoured trucks (particularly in the mobile company “Mazza di Ferro”, based in Pola – today Pula), some of them armed with a 20 mm machine gun, and two L 3 light tanks. It seems that the two L 3 tanks, after being abandoned by the Italian army, were recovered respectively by a civilian and by the Yugoslav partisans (that abandoned it afterwards) and were bought by the regiment, one for 35.000 lire and the other against a truckload of clothes and shoes. One, which was immobile, was dig at the edge of the town of Buie and used as a bunker until it was destroyed by the militiamen before they abandoned Istria on 29th April 1945. The other one was used in action and at the end of the war it was sunk in the see in the port of Capodistria (today Koper) to avoid its capture by the Yugoslav partisans.
(from: Luigi Papo de Montona, L’ultima bandiera. Storia del Reggimento “Istria”, TER, Roma, 2000)
http://www.panzer-ozak.it/newinfo_eng.htm
"There was 3 brothers: Benussi Pietro,Antonio,Ettore.... 2° regiment of MDT in Istria. ° regiment "ISTRIA" MDT(Milizia difesa territoriale) field defence group located at "Pola" to defend the city from the Tito's communist partisan attacks... There is a lot of History about this regiment!"
Ettore (Hector), the owner of the helmet, and his two brothers Pietro and Antonio served in the 2 Regt. MDT (RSI). Antonio was shot on May 10, 1945:
I haven't researched Blackshirt Ettore Benussi yet, I think that may require Italian reference. This helmet has been featured in an excellent book on Italian militaria.
Some information on the unit:
2. Reggimento Milizia Difesa Territoriale “Istria”
The 2. Rgt. MDT „Istria“ was employed on the Istria peninsula from late 1943 to May 1945, for control of the territory, protection of transport and communication lines and fighting the partisans. It had several armoured trucks (particularly in the mobile company “Mazza di Ferro”, based in Pola – today Pula), some of them armed with a 20 mm machine gun, and two L 3 light tanks. It seems that the two L 3 tanks, after being abandoned by the Italian army, were recovered respectively by a civilian and by the Yugoslav partisans (that abandoned it afterwards) and were bought by the regiment, one for 35.000 lire and the other against a truckload of clothes and shoes. One, which was immobile, was dig at the edge of the town of Buie and used as a bunker until it was destroyed by the militiamen before they abandoned Istria on 29th April 1945. The other one was used in action and at the end of the war it was sunk in the see in the port of Capodistria (today Koper) to avoid its capture by the Yugoslav partisans.
(from: Luigi Papo de Montona, L’ultima bandiera. Storia del Reggimento “Istria”, TER, Roma, 2000)
http://www.panzer-ozak.it/newinfo_eng.htm
I've always had a keen interest in Italian WW2 militaria and firearms. How many Italian camo helmets have you seen? The vast majority of "stencil" and certainly Italian "camo" helmets are fakes as they are popular in Italy, Europe, and here.