Original German WWII M38 Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger Paratrooper Helmet Shell with Decal & Replacement Camouflage – ET66 Original Items

Original Item: One of a Kind. Just purchased from a collector at a military show! This is a genuine German WWII M38 Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger (Paratrooper) size 66 Helmet Shell, complete with an original Luftwaffe Eagle decal! This shell definitely looks to have been a “battlefield pickup”, most likely some years after it was lost. This caused the original liner inside to rot out, along with the aluminum supports and spanner nuts. Most of the paint on the inside was lost as well, but it looks like a good amount of the exterior paint remained.

Most importantly, over the left ear, the original Luftwaffe decal was preserved, though it definitely does show age. There are some parts missing, having flaked off over the years, but it is definitely the real deal. To enhance the displayability of the shell, as well as to preserve the decal, it was given a camouflage overpaint, with the correct triangle around the decal. The paint job was then expertly aged to give it the look of a real service used helmet, complete with scuffs, scrapes, and other damage!

The interior of the shell is stamped ET66 over the left ear, and the rear of the skirt is stamped with the steel lot number 2108. All paratrooper helmets were produced by Eisenhuttenwerke AG of Thale Harz, Germany, and this is the correct early war maker code that they used. This example is a shell size 66 and was produced some time in 1940 – 1942.

German Paratrooper helmets are highly desirable, and they are rare on the market in any condition. This would be a great way to fill that hole in your German helmet collection. Ready to display!

Fallschirmjägerhelm M38

Fallschirmjägerhelm M38 ( M38 Heisler / M38 ) – was a German steel paratrooper helmet intended for Fallschirmjäger airborne units from World War II. Originally, the German airborne troops used the standard Stahlhelm M35 helmets throughout the German Army . It soon turned out, however, that this helmet was not suitable for parachuting, as it caused significant air resistance during the jump. A too loosely fastened helmet could have been torn from the jumper’s head, and if it was tightly fastened it could cause suffocation.

Therefore, from 1936, work was carried out at the Eisenhüttenwerke factory to create a helmet dedicated specifically to the airborne troops. Their effect was a parachute helmet designed by engineer Karl Heisler, which under the designation M38 was adopted by the army.

The M38 helmet was derived from the standard M35 helmet. However, it was smaller, more streamlined and with a significantly reduced hood. The front part of the hood was only marked, and the rear part was shortened to 1.8 cm. (in experimental versions – 2 cm). The rims of the bell were rolled up. The helmet bell was made in a series of operations from one piece of steel sheet 1.5 mm thick. It was produced in sizes marked as 66, 68 and 71.

The internal equipment of the experimental versions of the helmet was identical to that of the standard M35 helmet. In the version adopted for equipment, a new type of fascia was used, which better protected against possible injuries. For this purpose, the bell walls were additionally lined with a shock-absorbing micro-rubber insert cut into 7 “arms” with a thickness of 10 to 13 mm. The actual fit was in the form of a leather cap with round holes cut for ventilation. Both the micro-rubber insert and the leather cap were attached to an aluminum rim with a thickness of 1 mm. All interior fittings were bolted with four screws to the helmet bell.

A new type of lining was also used in the parachute helmet. The standard two-point suspension was replaced with a four-point “Y” -shaped suspension, which ensured better fit of the helmet on the head. In the model adopted as an accessory, the straps of the lining were widened to 20 mm and latches were introduced to protect the helmet against accidental unfastening.

The helmet’s bell was initially painted gray-blue. A national-colored shield on the right side and a Luftwaffe eagle decal on the left side were put on. Later during the war, the bell was painted gray-green or sand colored. Various covers and masking nets were also used. In winter conditions, the helmet bell was painted white.

Polish tankers from the 2nd Corps of the Polish Armed Forces in the West would use captured M38 helmets. The reason for this was their small size and the fact that they fit very tightly to the head. However, they were strictly forbidden to use them, as it happened that their own infantry mistook the tankers leaving their vehicles as Germans and opened fire on them.