Posted 12 years ago
fossilhunter
(38 items)
I just re-discovered these this morning in the dark recesses of the shop...the dislocated spiders are not happy right now. I pulled these from the back of a scrap metal truck years ago. I just couldn't see them getting melted down just yet. Thanks to the sleuthing abilities and expertise here I found out they are what they are.
They look Oriental to me, but I am too ignorant to indicate Japanese, Korean, Chinese, etc. Someone will know, though! Very interesting items. So glad you posted them!
Thank you mrmajestic1 and miKKoChristmas11. @ miKKo. I believe they are as well and have tried to look up a number of nations to no avail. There are markings inside the 1 but rust blocks the view of what was painted.
I'm just guessing on memory, but maybe dutch. Dutch East indies maybe?
This is not my area of expertese, but I think I found you the answer - Japanese.
My clue was character on the outside of the helmet beside 35 looks like the Japanese Katakana character "tsu"
http://www.japanorama.com/kata_ref.html
Then I googled images for Japanese helmets and found the page below. Part way down there is a helmet with that yellow insignia on it that the writer says is from a construction batalion, and farther down there is a helmet like the one with the 35 that is described as civil defense:
http://www.panzergrenadier.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1539&p=92686
Chris
Chrisnp Thank You. You nailed it on the head. I had also contacted a retired Col. who runs http://www.snyderstreasures.com and has been a militaria show promoter for nearly 50 years and he said the same thing, but you said it first. ;)
Thanks Everyone for the input.