East German Military M66 "D" Helmet
Product Code: AAAGAS-156
Our Price: $119.95
Description
In the early 1950’s East Germany began to develop its own combat helmet for its growing militarized state. In 1954 the short lived M54 made its debut. It was produced in very small numbers with some people even designating it an experimental helmet. After only a year and a half it was replaced with the M56 A. The M54 was then utilized by border police units for a short time before it was once again pushed aside for this new helmet. There were three types of M56’s, the “A” , “B” and the “C”. The outward appearance of these shells were the same. The single most identifiable characteristic of them were the three small externally protruding liner suspension rivets. These rivets disappeared in the second model, the M66, making its external surface smooth. The M56 A+B differed most significantly from the ones that followed in that it still had a strong hold on the past. Its liner was the one that had been used since 1935, the M31. This was the same liner that was used during the Second World War. In the “A” it was secured to the shell by three brackets. The “B” used these same brackets but then buffered it with four foam rubber pads. These pads were made from the same material that was used in the M38 FJ paratrooper helmets. Both “A” and “B” used essentially the same old school liner but it was the “B” that put a new spin on it, a spin that would remain unchanged in all of its future evolutions. The “A” utilized the original chinstrap that we’re all familiar with. It was in the “B” that we first see the four point Y strap. This innovation would then be copied but the Soviets and incorporated into their Ssh60s. It is also worth mentioning that these old M56 B chinstraps used four steel dumb bell rivets to secure the chinstrap to the liner. Future evolutions replaced these steel dumb bells with plastic ones, otherwise they are the same. The "C" was next in the evolution of this helmet. In 1966 when the M66 smooth shell was introduced all of the previously produced M56’s were eventually brought back in and refurbished. They were given the new liner that was held in by three internally mounted posts. When they were reissued the three externally protruding rivets remained but were essentially without purpose. Next came this one, the final evolution in the series, the "D". This one is in mint condition and was the one worn right to the bitter end.