Alexander & Sons Restoration
A Savage Snow War On a freezing day in January 1940, near the village of Muurila, a Red Army soldier crept through the snow. He placed himself as close to a tent, as he dared; he knew it contained his Finnish enemy. He lobbed his grenade and waited for the consequences to unfold. This hostile …
A Infamous Helmet If there is one helmet that is universally recognized as epitomizing the evil of the Nazis regime, it would be the shiny black helmet worn by the SS in the 1930s. It is hard to pinpoint exactly why. This type of helmet never saw combat. It wasn’t worn by concentration camp guards …
Starting in March 1940 German helmet factories were ordered to produce a rough textured matte finish on their helmets. This finish was achieved in most cases by aluminum oxide powder.
A helmet customized for Battle Some of the most unique German helmets of WWII were worn during the Battle for Normandy. The terrain of thick green hedgerows, rolling green meadows, golden fields and orchards created diverse but deadly battlefields; one that necessitated good helmet camouflage for survival. To help their helmets blend into this environment, …
Fight for the Post Office At 4 am on September 1, 1939 German sappers cut the power to Danzig’s Post Office plunging it’s Polish staff into total darkness. No doubt a fitting act foreshadowing the dark times Poland would soon endure. World War II had just officially started, and the Free City of Danzig was about to be in the middle of the war. The now …
A Helmet for a Desert Front When Adolf Hitler agreed to send an expeditionary force to North Africa to shore up his beleaguered Italian ally, it was understood by the German military planners that the conditions which this force would be fighting in were different than any front the Germans had hither to served in. North Africa …
More Helmets for an Expanding War The German helmet of World War II is often broken down for distinction in three different models. The M35, M40 and M42. In truth according to the German high command there was only one model, the Model 35, so called because the first years of production was in 1935. The other models, …
A Helmet for a Titanic Battle The largest battle the World had ever seen would take place at the Russian city of Stalingrad between August 23, 1942 and February 2nd, 1943. Before the battle ended, both sides would sustain a combined total of over 2 million casualties. Throughout this titanic battle, the German army would utilize different …
War Brings Changes During any war the uniforms and equipment used by the military inevitably will go through changes. Certainly this was true of much of the equipment utilized by the German armed forces during WWII. These changes would include helmet liners. Between 1940 and 1945 the German M31 helmet liner would see several modifications. Many of these changes …
A New Liner for a New Era As the German Reichswehr slogged it’s way through the turbulence of the 1920s, supply issues were a constant concern. With the armistice of the Great War and subsequence treaty of Versailles, Germany had been forced to sell off or destroy much of it’s military equipment such as steel helmets. Immediately after the end of the …
