Is that a romanian helmet ?

Hi ....

Look at that pic ,token in the last days of the war .Those are german soldiers .It seems it was not enough helmets for them ,so they `gave them "captured" foreign helmets .

Those helmets are not italian ,not czech ,not polish .......Could those helmets be romanian (or dutch ?)

Rgds.

Oooops ! Here the soldiers wearing the helmets.

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No, they are not Dutch M1939 helmets.

Aren't those Italian helmets, and the soldiers (German or Italian) defenders of Gothic/Gustav Line (and the RSI, Italian Social Republic, Mussolini's puppet state) in Northern Italy?

Isn't it possible that they are components of the few fascist divisions formed in RSI which fought along the Germans? As I know, their uniforms looked pretty much like the German uniforms... (see www.comandosupremo.com)

This is really a puzzle . If the third from left soldier may wear what look like an italian helmet ,the second from left is NOT an italian helmet .

And no ,I don't think they are troopers of the RSI (which was far from being a puppet -state ,in my view,but here I am off topic) because of the Heer garrison cap (Feldmutze) that the first soldier wears rucked in belt .
The RSI troopers wear italian garrison caps .

Beside you will note that this very first soldier wears also a gothic cuff-tittle at the left sleeve of his combat jacket ,which is really strange too .

It seems no forum in the world is able to get the definite answer .

I have been asking to knowledgeable friends in Danmark ,Spain ,USA, Mexico ,France ,Germany ,Lithuania ,Poland and Estonia and nobody have an answer ....

A puzzling puzzle ....For me it is a troop of the german Heer at the end of the war ,late and quick formed (soldiers are mature men) and maybe it was no german helmets available for all ,so they were given foreign helmets .


But keep posting ,please .

Strange, I've never hear of German troops running out of helmets.

What is the source of this photo?

Is this another weird theory? The Salo Republic was a true example of a puppet state. The German military and police commanders negotiated the surrender in Italy in 1945 without even informing Mussolini.

The second man seems to be wearing a Swiss helmet Model 1918, which is very weird to say the least, because the only sizeable numbers of Swiss helmets exported went to Argentina...
Anyway, it is difficult to tell from the photo. It is isn't crisp enough.

Ruy

Dragos : no offense but it seems you are absolutely misinformed about the RSI (on which I wrote lots of articles...) and i could post a lot about it .
So if you want ,we may opens a topic bout "The RSI - A puppet state or the combattive achievment of real Fascism ? "

About HSSPF Wolff dealing a cease fire with the allies -without informing the italians - it is a pure betrayal .Wolff did so against the orders of Hitler ,after having had lots of meeting with OSS Allen Dulles in Switzerland were the americans guarantized its life (and fortune) in doing so .
Not really representative of "Meine Ehre ist Treue" .

Btw the italians kept fighting in the Valtelina for more days .Many fascist units surrendered only in march 1945 (like in the case of the blackshirts Legione Tagliamento and the blackshirts battalion Venezia Giulia ,both units receiving the War's Honors by US troops )

Fascist guerillas were still active in the mountains after the war and thier last war action was in ....1956 when they blown-up a ship full of wheat (about to be sent to the USSR by italian govt as "payment for war damage" ) in Napoli's harbour .

Mussolini was not an "oscure" italian propulsed by the germans , the fascist party was active and with its mobilisation by July 25 th 1944 (formation of the black brigades) this prevened the germans to seize over the administrative control of the rural italian provinces .The RSI government had a (small) navy and an air force (pretty combative ,like during the bombing of Turrin by 150 americans bombers in summer 1944 ,when the german Luftwaffe was absolutely off the italian sky and that it was six (6) Macchi's fighters of the Montefusco-Bonet squadriglia which opponed against those bombers ,shooting down lots of Flying Fortress ,etc,etc,,,,,

The RSI laws were really italians and without german interference ( law of the socialisation of 1944 which was even more progressive than national-socialist social laws)

So I stay in my point that the RSI (unlike the "rumanian " government Pauker - Ceausescu etc ...) was a real legitime state .

But of course we are off topic ......


Helmets : Swiss ??? Why not ?

I scanned this part from a whole picture i enlarged .I gone scann the whole picture and give you the sources (book ) ,let's me go through my archives .

About non german helmets used by germans ,I know of some polish helmets ,which were painted in luftwaffe blue-grey and then used by the Luftschutz and the HJ kids who were Flak helfers ......

These three pictures were taken from the book "The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan" by Hans Dollinger..

Here the original pic and enlargement of the last part of this pic where more foreign helmets are worn .


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Here the original pic as published in the book :

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The helmet worn by the man in the middle is a normal italian Modello 33 helmet, worn back to front.
I'm 100% sure of this having used this kind of steel helmet when I was in the army.

So far we are progressing .

So they may be italian RSI soldiers integred to a german Kampfgruppe in the last days of the war , or german Volkssturm -style soldiers with shortage of german
helmets .....

Now it seems to me weird that an italian soldier could put back front its helmet...

1. Lets make sure between swiss ml 1918 or italian (backside) ml33.

Could a reader scann pics of a swiss ml1918 helmet and of the back of an italian ml 33 helmet ,so we make sure ?

Several photos of the Swiss helmets M.1918 and M.1918/40 can be found here: http://www.cascoscoleccion.com/suiza/suiza.htm
From the Northridge International page (helmet's page - http://www.northridgeinc.com/I_mg_helmets.htm):

An M.1918/40 photo



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