Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great all original extra small example of a German WWII M40 Police Combat Helmet, complete with original paint and decals. This is an eye catching helmet, and the first example we have been able to offer in years. It is a truly lovely helmet, in very good condition with just the right amount of period wear to give it that great "broken in" look. Field Police units served in frontline capacity, serving on the front, and also operating behind the lines fighting partisans. The Feldpolizei units operated under the guise of the SS.

This stamped sheet steel construction helmet retains most of its original paint but does show wear and use. It is painted in a very nice lightly textured panzergrau (armor gray) paint, which is still retained over 90%, with overall wear. The helmet features genuine double decals of the NSDAP civic police eagle on the left side and the swas on a red shield on the right. Both show period wear and age related deterioration, with the Police Eagle retained at close to 100%, while the NSDAP swas shows chipping, and is retained at about 75%. Really a great honest used helmet!

The shell is stamped with hkp 60 on the rear skirt above heat lot 3417, indicating that Sächsische Emaillier und Stanzwerke A.G. of Lauter, Germany manufactured it. Towards the end of the war, the SE marking was discontinued in favor of the three letter code hkp, and then was moved to the rear skirt to save production time. Size 60 is a very small size that can accommodate liners from 52cm to 53cm or US 6 1/2 to 6 3/8. Shells this small are extremely rare, and we have only had a handful, even when compared to the extra large size 68.

All three original liner retaining pins are present with almost all of the original lightly textured present on all three. The interior of the helmet still has an original M31 leather present, with all SEVEN "fingers" present, only seen on these extra small liners. The leather is still soft for the most part, but it does show flaking of the surface layer overall, particularly around the rim, and the top tie has been replaced with a piece of twine. The wartime issue galvanized steel liner band is faintly marked on the left outer side with 60 n.A. / 53, indicating that the liner band is a size 53, intended for a 60 shell. The right side has the full maker information lightly stamped:

Metall-Lederverarbeitung W.Z.
1942
Bln.- Ch'burg 5

This indicates production by the metal and leather working company Werner Zahn, based in Berlin - Charlottenburg, in the year 1942, which fits right into the mid war period. There is still an original chinstrap attached to the liner, which has the correct steel hardware for this time period. The leather is however degraded, and the longer section has broken off just after the 5th size adjustment hole, so it is missing a significant part.

Overall a very nice 100% genuine rare extra small M40 Double Decal NSDAP Civic Police Combat helmet! M40 helmets of this quality are always the hardest to find on the market. This is an item that will only continue to appreciate in value over time.

The German Helmet:
The first "modern" steel helmets were introduced by the French army in early 1915 and were shortly followed by the British army later that year. With plans on the drawing board, experimental helmets in the field, ("Gaede" helmet), and some captured French and British helmets the German army began tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November, and in the field in December 1915. An acceptable pattern was developed and approved and production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, (Iron and Foundry Works), in the spring of 1916.

These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. The M16 and M18 helmets remained in usage through-out the Weimar Reichswehr, (National Defence Force, Circa 1919-1933), era and on into the early years of the Third Reich until the development of the smaller, lighter M35 style helmet in June 1935.

In 1934 tests began on an improved Stahlhelm, whose design was a development of World War I models. The Eisenhüttenwerke company of Thale carried out prototype design and testing, with Dr. Friedrich Schwerd once again taking a hand.

The new helmet was pressed from sheets of molybdenum steel in several stages. The size of the flared visor and skirt was reduced, and the large projecting lugs for the obsolete armor shield were eliminated. The ventilator holes were retained, but were set in smaller hollow rivets mounted to the helmet's shell. The edges of the shell were rolled over, creating a smooth edge along the helmet. Finally, a completely new leather suspension, or liner, was incorporated that greatly improved the helmet's safety, adjustability, and comfort for each wearer. These improvements made the new M1935 helmet lighter, more compact, and more comfortable to wear than the previous designs.

The Army's Supreme Command officially accepted the new helmet on June 25, 1935 and it was intended to replace all other helmets in service.

More than 1 million M1935 helmets were manufactured in the first two years after its introduction, and millions more were produced until 1940 when the basic design and production methods were changed, replacing the multi-piece riveted vent with one stamped directly into the steel. Later, in 1942 the rolled steel rim was removed from the pattern to further expedite production.