UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories German Military Uniform Forum Normandy Camo FJ helmet & belts

I probably posted this vet-acquired helmet before, but didn't know how to make the picture this large. The vet who brought it back was in the 101st Airborne. He cut the chinstraps at the point where they met the bottom edge of the rim.
This is one of 3 Normandy-painted FJ helmets I own with 101st ABD vet provenance. The 2 belts also came from 101st vets, so are probably from the 6th FJR.
The bottom one I acquired this year-it is an odd color-steel painted with a dull grey paint-not the usual blue/black shade and not aluminum either.

A rear view of the same helmet-too bad about the chinstraps-the rest of the helmet is perfect. Owner's name written inside liner is:
'Obgefr Kluge'.

This small grouping comes from the same vet as the grey steel belt buckle-6th Para Rgt Carentan June, 1944.
Note the blood smear on th side of the well-worn overseas cap.

A small tag inside the overseas cap bears the original owner's initials.

I've looked at a lot of Luft EM overseas caps but have seen few with RB number like this.

Those are wonderful pieces. The paint on the Normandy is superb, and I love the hat, too. I haven't seen many RB numbers in LW O'seas caps either!

Great Helmet. Do the veterans' accounts confirm they belonged to FJR 6 ?
I often wondered if all these Normandy helmets were picked-up directly off the battlefield, or were picked from a great pile sometime after the clear-up had been completed.

Regards,
Steve

Steve-
Of the 3 FJ camo'd helmets I have with Normandy provenance, the one illustrated above is the only one in which the vet is not sure where he acquried it (Normandy or Holland)?
As for the other two, one was acquired by Captain Fred Han**** in the cabbage patch above Carentan (from 2nd or 3rd Bn 6th FJR) and the other was acquired at Peneme, France from a casualty of the 1st Bn 6th FJR.
I will eventually post pics of the other two helmets here.

Hi, Mark

Very nice Normandy camo helmet. The side-cap is fantastic.

Thanks, David

Great post Mark, top notch items and some great history on these pieces

Mark,

Great stuff. Here is a picture of a camo luftwaffe cap I have with markings of the same maker. I posted it on another forum , was throughly spanked and insulted , one of the bones of contention was this RB marking. This was particularly annoying in that this was a direct vet buy for me with some really nice German guns and he threw the cap in on the deal.Could I use you lining picture on the other forum?

For Nutmeg-
As to the image-absolutelty no problem. You could move the image to that page ot just post a hyperlink to this discussion. Do whatever works best for you.
Some 'experts' don't know it all, even if they think they do. MB

Some 'experts' don't know it all, even if they think they do.

Thanks! I agree on the "experts".

Cheers

There is a HUGE difference between those two RBN stamps -- one is an obvious original, and one is a reproduction.

I never said they were the same, just by the same RB maker. Show me why one is a reproduction and not just a variation with different fonts. Please back up your statement with some facts.

How do you tell the difference between a Chippendale chair and a piece of lawn furniture? They both have four legs, they're both brown, and they're both something you sit in. But one's worth thousands of dollars, one's worth about 50 cents at a yard sale. Answer: Experience, knowledge, and a trained eye.

The hat Mr. Bando showed is a first glance original. The marking is on correct material, using the textbook font, and the correct ink. The one you showed is on postwar material, in the wrong font, using the wrong ink. It is a poor reproduction, and stands out like a sore thumb. I'm sorry, but it does. I would buy Mr. Bando's hat in a nanosecond, but I wouldn't touch the one you showed with a barge pole because to anyone with a trained eye, it stands out as a bad copy.

Well, we will have to disagree on this one. The veteran source on this was above reproach and several noted experts on headgear have also said it was fine. There are plenty of noted "experts" in this field who make big blunders (panzer wrap recently) and cannot even agree on what is right.I have been at this long enough to know when I am confident of something it requires "real" proof the convince me I am wrong.

Chris, If you can show me some other repros of this cap,or identical markings in a repro cap, I might think differently and concede you are right and I am wrong. Gut feeling is not enough, as it's wrong as often as right and experience is good only on previously encountered items.

I recall years ago buying 30 Fuhrer HQ cufftitles (still bundled together in the original paper wrapper )from 101st Airborne vet, beautiful mint ones. All the big wheels, said they were no good, too mint, wrong material, etc. One dealer bought most of them, then resold them to all the naysayers who liked them when he had them.

I have also collected Civil war and Revolutionary War stuff for 40 years an can tell you many of the so called experts in the field are wrong as often as they are right. Many of the most repected reference works are full of fakes and misidentified items (sound like WW2 collecting?).

Well, as long as you enjoy it and are happy with it, that's the important thing in collecting. As Abraham Lincoln famously said, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

This mule won't drink from just any water.I'll keep researching this until I find a period picture of a soldier wearing one of these caps or good example with the same marking. Best case I will prove what already know, worst, I'll waste my time, which my wife would already agree is wasted with this stuff anyway.