M40 SS STEEL HELMET BY ET WITH ET SECOND PATTERN SHIELD .

Late in 1945 a British soldier was on guard duty in Berlin in the allied sector .

He spied beyond the perimeter of the allied fences an upturned German helmet on the floor of a building  .

Over time devilment got the better of him and he took his chances darting across the shadowy ground In pursuit of a  war souvenir.  Fifty two years later  the brother of the now deceased Tommy contacted me with the message that he had an SS helmet which he was considering selling . 

 We met up and the gentleman showed me the helmet and furnished me with the story. I was excited and I believe a price of about £2000 was agreed . Now I had the helmet pictured ,pleasantly scruffy with a field  repair in the form of copper wire anchoring the chin strap . And a non matching undersized rivet  securing the liner to the helmet shell. I had a receptive customer in mind and sure enough he snapped it up . A few years later in 2017 I bought the helmet back for £2900 and summarily sold it to just about the first U.K. Dealer who clapped eyes on it.  Through the medium of social media I have published this tale to a receptive group of enthusiasts . To my surprise I learned that their interest in the hobby came about through thier grandfather’s bringing home souvenirs. Clearly the pulling power of Nazi memorabilia is difficult to figure out given the evil history these objects represent .    

To classify collectors of SS Helmets as Nazis themselves is  simple yet unscientific in it’s methodology .