Original Item. Only One Available. This is a particularly interesting WWII veteran bring-back grouping centered on German field equipment returned from the European Theater by a member of the U.S. Army’s 810th Ordnance Base Depot Company. The group is especially desirable because it retains its original October 30, 1944 “Certificate” authorizing captured enemy military equipment, together with a wartime unit photograph. The grouping contains:

• 1 German WWII steel combat helmet
• 1 German WWII gas mask
• 1 German WWII gas mask carrying canister
• 1 German WWII field mess kit with leather retaining strap
• 2 sets of German leather rifle ammunition pouches
• 1 U.S. Army captured-enemy-equipment certificate dated October 30, 1944
• 1 wartime U.S. Army Ordnance Battalion group photograph

The document is signed in ink by:

Frank B. Lawton
2nd Lt., Ord. Dept.
810 Ord. Base Depot Co.

Lawton’s signature and unit identification establish that the certification was made through the 810th Ordnance Base Depot Company, linking Billings and the captured equipment to a U.S. Army Ordnance organization operating overseas. The Ordnance Department was responsible for the receipt, storage, maintenance, repair, and distribution of a vast range of military equipment, making personnel of such units especially likely to encounter captured enemy matériel during the course of their duties.

Also included is a large original wartime group photograph showing approximately forty U.S. servicemen posed outside a brick building prominently marked:

ORDNANCE BATTALION

The photograph appears to record a unit athletic team and associated personnel. Many of the men wear numbered football jerseys, while a football held at the center bears a hand-painted championship inscription. Several other men are dressed in U.S. Army field or service clothing rather than athletic uniforms, suggesting the image may include players together with unit officers, coaches, or support personnel. No individual in the photograph can presently be identified with certainty, so no specific identification is claimed.

The helmet is a Heer Model 1935 steel helmet, originally configured as a double-decal example and retaining substantial evidence of that early-war arrangement. The shell is maker marked Q62, identifying a size 62 shell produced by F. W. Quist GmbH of Esslingen, with the rear skirt stamped with lot number 966. The M35 pattern is distinguished here by its smooth, rolled-under rim and separately fitted ventilation bushings. These are defining construction features of the original 1935 pattern and distinguish it from the later simplified M40 and M42 helmets.

The exterior appears to retain two layers of wartime-applied paint, with both greener and greyer tones visible across the shell. The surface now shows a mottled, service-worn appearance, with areas of the later grey finish worn through to an earlier, slightly greener coat beneath. This layered finish is accompanied by broad abrasion, scattered oxidation, and reddish-brown surface corrosion, particularly across the crown and upper portions of the shell.

Particularly important are the remains of its original decal configuration. On the wearer’s left side is a substantially surviving Heer national eagle decal, now heavily worn but still immediately identifiable from the eagle’s head, wings, body, and portions of the lower device. The opposite side retains fragmentary remains of the early national tricolor shield, with visible red and light-colored elements surviving beneath the worn surface. Together, these remnants identify the helmet as a former double-decal Heer M35, the configuration associated with early production and prewar/early-war issue before the national shield was ordered discontinued.

The eagle decal itself has suffered considerable surface loss, with much of the original light-colored field and printed detail worn away, but the black line work and overall form remain surprisingly legible in protected areas. The tricolor decal on the opposite side is much more fragmentary, surviving primarily as irregular patches of red and lighter pigment, but enough remains to establish its former presence. There are also faint linear areas around the lower sides of the shell where earlier finish and decal wear have blended together through use, cleaning, oxidation, and long-term storage.

The interior retains its original-style leather liner assembly. The brown leather liner is marked 62 n.A. / 55, indicating installation in a size 62 shell with a nominal 55 cm head-size liner. The liner leather remains substantially complete and retains its multiple perforated fingers and central drawstring arrangement. It shows pronounced age, darkening, dryness, surface wear, and cracking, with some splitting and deterioration around individual fingers and attachment areas, but it remains an unusually substantial surviving interior given the exterior wear.

The liner band carries the manufacturer marking:

SCHUBERTH-WERKE K.-G.
D.R.P.
1943
BRAUNSCHWEIG

This establishes the liner assembly as a 1943-dated Schuberth-Werke replacement or later-installed liner, considerably later than the original introduction of the M35 shell itself. That combination is entirely plausible for a service-used helmet that remained in Army inventory for years and underwent repair or refurbishment during the war. The leather chinstrap is likewise wartime marked and appears to read:

G. SCHIELE
LOBURG
1941

The strap remains fitted to the helmet and retains its metal buckle, but the leather is heavily aged, darkened, dry, and worn. It should be handled carefully, particularly around the folded and attachment areas where old leather is most vulnerable to further cracking.

The grouping also includes a very complete German WWII M38 gas mask assembly with filter and long-pattern metal carrying canister, representing the standard form of respiratory protection issued to German military personnel during the war. The mask itself is the later all-rubber M38 pattern, introduced as the successor to the earlier M30 fabric-and-rubber mask. Its molded olive-green rubber facepiece retains the metal-rimmed eyepieces, threaded filter fitting, exhalation-valve assembly, and the original web head harness.

The facepiece is marked externally with a large molded “3,” identifying the mask as size 3, the smallest of the three standard German mask sizes. The interior carries the wartime manufacturer code bwz, a code associated with Auer-Gesellschaft AG, Werk Oranienburg, one of the principal German producers of gas-protection equipment.

Both eyepieces are dated 1942 and retain their reddish-orange protective lens inserts. These removable inserts, generally referred to as Klarscheiben, were intended to help maintain clear vision by reducing the effects of moisture and condensation on the mask lenses. A separate packet of replacement Klarscheiben is also retained in the storage compartment inside the canister lid. Its printed German instructions read:

“Klarscheiben”.
Vor Feuchtigkeit schützen;
nicht wischen,
nur am Rand anfassen.

“Clear lenses.”
Protect from moisture;
do not wipe;
handle only by the edge.

The mask remains fitted with its original-style cylindrical Fe 41 filter, finished in the same olive-green tone. The base retains its central intake opening and internal filtering mesh. Period markings remain visible around the underside, including FE 41, a German military acceptance eagle and WaA marking, and the manufacturer code byd. The code byd is associated with Drägerwerk AG of Lübeck, another major manufacturer of German respiratory-protection equipment. The filter therefore represents a separately manufactured component assembled with the Auer-produced mask, a normal feature of German military gas-mask sets in which masks, filters, lenses, and carrying cases could originate from different approved contractors.

The carrying case is the familiar long-pattern M38 gas-mask canister, introduced to accommodate the somewhat less flexible M38 rubber mask. Constructed from ribbed sheet steel, it retains its dark field-gray/green painted finish, hinged upper lid, spring closure, lower reinforcing ring, and carrying straps. The exterior shows honest service wear, with scattered paint loss and exposed metal concentrated around the raised edges, closure hardware, lid perimeter, and lower rim. The vertical ribbing remains sharply defined, and the canister has not suffered the severe crushing or deformation sometimes encountered on field-used examples.

The web carrying system is likewise still present. The straps show substantial field and age wear, with fading, fraying, surface grime, and deterioration to portions of the woven material, particularly near the canister attachment points. Despite this, they remain with the case and preserve the way the assembly was originally carried.

The condition of the mask itself is quite good considering its age. The molded rubber facepiece remains well formed and retains its characteristic olive coloration, though the material has naturally stiffened with age and should be handled carefully. The web head harness remains present, with normal discoloration and age wear. Both 1942-dated eyepiece inserts remain fitted and visually striking, with the amber-red coloration still strong. The filter shows moderate finish wear and light oxidation around exposed metal surfaces but remains externally complete. The canister likewise retains a substantial amount of its wartime paint, with scattered abrasions, edge wear, and small areas of oxidation rather than major structural damage.

The grouping also includes a German WWII M31-pattern field mess kit, or Kochgeschirr 31, complete with its leather retaining strap. This was the standard individual mess kit carried by German military personnel during the war and consisted of a deep lower food container with wire carrying handle and a fitted upper lid that could also serve as a separate eating or cooking vessel. The present example is of lightweight metal construction, apparently aluminum, and retains substantial areas of its wartime olive-brown painted finish.

The exterior has seen considerable field and storage wear. Large areas of paint have worn or flaked away, particularly across the broad sides, lower edges, and lid, exposing the bare aluminum beneath. The remaining finish has darkened and mottled with age, with scattered scratches, abrasions, handling marks, and small areas of oxidation and staining. The degree of paint loss gives the mess kit a heavily service-used appearance while leaving its original form and construction readily identifiable.

The lid fits over the lower body in the standard M31 arrangement and retains its raised rim and side fittings. The lower section retains the folding wire bail handle, which remains attached at both sides. This handle allowed the lower container to be carried, suspended over a heat source, or handled when hot. The interior is largely devoid of exterior paint and shows the expected dull aluminum surface with age staining, discoloration, and wear from use.

A particularly important surviving component is the brown leather securing strap, which remains wrapped vertically around the complete mess kit. The strap passes over the lid and around the body to hold the two sections together during transport. It retains its series of adjustment holes and buckle hardware, but the leather is now heavily darkened, dry, and worn from age. There is substantial surface deterioration, edge wear, and cracking, so the strap should be handled carefully and not unnecessarily flexed.

Included is also a pair of German Heer Patronentasche 11 rifle ammunition pouches, the standard three-compartment leather cartridge pouches associated with the Karabiner 98k and carried extensively by German infantry during WWII. Although they are similar in overall pattern, the two pouches are not a factory-matched pair: they differ in leather color, maker, and date, with one dated 1939 and the other 1937.

Each pouch is constructed from heavy leather with three individual ammunition compartments, each closed by its own flap and vertical leather retaining strap. Internally, this pattern was designed to carry two five-round Kar98k stripper clips per compartment, giving a capacity of 30 rounds per pouch and 60 rounds when worn as the standard pair. The reverse of each pouch retains the two vertical belt loops as well as the central metal D-ring attachment used in conjunction with the soldier’s equipment-support system.

The lighter reddish-brown example is clearly maker and date stamped on the reverse:

MAX KOBERSTEIN
LANDSBERG/WARTHE
1939

The location is the period German city of Landsberg an der Warthe, today Gorzów Wielkopolski in Poland. The marking remains quite legible despite age-darkening and surface wear to the leather. This pouch retains a noticeably lighter reddish-brown tone on the reverse, while the front has darkened considerably through use, handling, and age. The leather grain remains visible throughout, and the stitching, belt loops, compartment flaps, and central suspension hardware are substantially intact.

The second pouch is of darker brown leather and bears the maker marking KARL KÜHNE together with the date 1937. The surviving stamp is more subdued than that of the Koberstein pouch, but the maker name and date remain discernible.

Both pouches show clear evidence of field use and long storage. The leather has darkened and stiffened with age, with scattered surface cracking, creasing, abrasion, edge wear, and areas of dryness. The flap edges and retaining straps show the greatest handling wear, while several metal fittings display oxidation and finish loss. Despite this, the principal leather components remain present, including the compartment flaps, vertical retaining straps, rear belt loops, and suspension rings. The stitching is generally retained, though it shows age and wear in places, and the leather should be handled carefully to avoid stressing the older, drier sections.

As a complete grouping, this set offers an unusually coherent snapshot of the way captured enemy equipment moved from the battlefield into the personal collections of returning American servicemen. Its strongest appeal lies in the combination of well-used German field gear with period U.S. Army paperwork and imagery that preserve the circumstances in which the material was retained, giving the group value not simply as an assortment of individual artifacts, but as a documented wartime assemblage with a clear collecting history dating back to 1944.