Camouflaged German Helmets

[Metternich]

In the past on this forum there have been various discussions on camouflaged German helmets and whether this was a common sight on late War battlefields.  Came across this interesting post from a company of professional WW1 restoration experts, with some fine pictures and informative text.

https://alexanderandsonsrestorations.com/truth-camouflaged-helmets-great-war/

[AKULA]

An interesting read - thanks for posting

 

[carlos marighela]

Indeed but it leaves open the question that if war trophy fakers and allied trophy collectors believed that the camouflaged helmet was the signature item of the front line German soldier based on its ubiquity, then surely this would have been equally true of German soldiers? If that were the case then why is there so little evidence in the photographic record of the Freikorps or in immediate post-war depictions of the war? Many of the Freikorps and the more notable artists who depicted the war were frontkämpfer themselves.

[Mad Gadgeteer]

These are the guys who verified the authenticity of tge three camo helmets in my collection.

In talking with them thay said that Disney and Cracker had artist marks that they would leave somewhere on the helmet, like an artist leaves his signature on a painting.  However, neither Disney nor Cracker ever said what their marks were, or where they placed them.  They pointed out that if people knew what they were, and they coukd be found on a helmet, it would make the helmet vastly more desirable and expensive.

Something else I thought was interesting about the article was the lack of "the rarest" helmet.  Disney would wait until a train, containing US troops, was just about to pull out of the station.  All of a sudden he would pull out one of "the rarest" helmets (picture in your mind the guy standing in an alley with a trench coat saying "psst, hey buddy") and present it to tge troops on the train.  He would claim that this helmet was taken from a dead sniper.  The helmet always sold and went for double or triple the normal price.

The article mentioned others who participated in the scam.  In one instance one of these other participants had an entire group of little 'ol French ladies painting them for him.

[carlos marighela]

In talking with them thay said that Disney and Cracker had artist marks that they would leave somewhere on the helmet, like an artist leaves his signature on a painting.  However, neither Disney nor Cracker ever said what their marks were, or where they placed them.  They pointed out that if people knew what they were, and they coukd be found on a helmet, it would make the helmet vastly more desirable and expensive.

I suspect the big eared mouse wearing shorts would be a dead giveaway. 

‘Twas interesting to learn that the racist, union busting shit bag started life as a con-man, faking war trophies for another kind of Walt. ‘ Sonny, I picked up that there helmet from a dead German at Chateau Thierry and if you press down on the lug on the side it plays the theme music to Dumbo’. 

[Mad Gadgeteer]

I suspect the big eared mouse wearing shorts would be a dead giveaway. 

‘Twas interesting to learn that the racist, union busting shit bag started life as a con-man, faking war trophies for another kind of Walt. ‘ Sonny, I picked up that there helmet from a dead German at Chateau Thierry and if you press down on the lug on the side it plays the theme music to Dumbo’.