RARE WW2 GERMAN SS OIL BASED DOUBLE DECAL TRANSITIONAL HELMET

This is a very nice and very rare WW2 German SS Double decal transitional helmet with Oil based painted decals which were used for a short period, this one has the SS runes on one side and the Tri colour decal on the other which were ordered to be completed by the opening of the Reichsparteitag, the combination of these hand painted decals are rare but for a very short period in 1934 was authorised, this one isn't painted black on the outside as for some these wouldn't of been painted but painted black on the inside of the helmet around the lower edge of the helmet which can be seen on this helmet. This one has the replacement later liner which unfortunately in poor condition but these helmets were in use even in the 1940s, this one is stamped 64 on the inside and has had the lugs removed which is known to of been done. Basically in the early days these helmets were all over the place due to lack of stock, changing decisions on what they should look like. This is a very nice one and would look great in anyones collection.

1932 was a bad time to need a helmet, and Himmler required a lot of them for his expanding SS units. At that moment, the German Reichswehr were still reliant on surplus WWI vintage M16 and M18 helmets. The Reichswehr (the German military) had barely enough helmets for their own use due to the restrictions the Treaty of Versailles placed on Germany in the prior decade. Had they wanted to share helmets with the SS (and they didnt), Hitler was still a year from coming into power so the SS would have to look elsewhere for their needs. To cover the immediate short fall in 1932, helmets were drawn from old Freikorps as well as existing Nazi stocks.

After the Nazis came to power 1933, the SS would undergo rapid expansion and more helmets would be required. The SS supply officers would look abroad, and purchased surplus WWI era M17 Austrian helmets from Czechoslovakia and Austria, as the helmet design was virtually identical to the German Great War pattern. One wonders if the Czechs had a crystal ball, would they have been so willing to deal with the SS.

These helmets were reconditioned to SS specification by painting them black with a brush or pneumatic paint gun directly over the old WWI or 1920s era factory paint.

Code: 6844