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On 29 January 1936 Hermann Göring
established Germany’s first parachute training school at the Luftwaffe
base in Stendal. The men were reorganized into the I. Battalion and
the 15 (Pioneer) Kompanie of what was to become "Fallschirmjäger
Regiment I". Likewise on 1 April 1937 the Army formed a parachute
company which also trained at Stendal. A new protective helmet was
need for parachute jumps and the firm of Eisenhüttenwerke in Thale
undertook the initial prototype design. The result was a helmet with
the cut-down appearance of a standard M1935. This helmet was
soon introduced for general use in 1936.
The Model 1936 Parachute Helmet (M1936)
was made of steel in the general shape of the M1935 helmet but without
the extended brim and flared sides. It utilized a three rivet M1931
liner retaining system like the M1935 but with a modified eight-finger
leather liner and heavy foam pad in the crown. Like the M1935, the
helmet used the same hollow rivets for air vents. The unique
chinstrap was designed to cross behind the back of the neck and down
around the chin while crossing on either side of the ears. Four
reinforced oblong slots in the helmet shell allowed the wearer to hang
the carbine hooks on the sides of the helmet when it was not used for
parachute jumping.
In 1937 an improved helmet shell was
introduced that utilized the same components as the M1936. The Model
1937 Parachute Helmet (M1937) was nearly identical to the M1936 with
the exception that it had two, rather than four, non-reinforced oblong
slots in the helmet shell. Under sustained use the early lining
system proved faulty as the three split rivets combined with the
aluminum M1931 liner band tended to warp or shear. Subsequently the
helmet underwent modifications that resulted in the introduction of
the improved Model 1938 Parachute Helmet (M1938).
The M1938 helmet incorporated four
hollow-bore spanner bolts (with screws and hexagonal washers) in favor
of the three split-tailed rivets found on the M1937. The liner system
was completely redesigned with heavy rubber padding on the sides and
crown with an improved aluminum liner band ring. Later models
incorporated a zinc plated steel ring instead of aluminum. Helmet
sizing was achieved by varying the thickness of the rubber padding in
the appropriate sized helmet shell. The support lining was now
constructed out of two pieces of leather sewn together in the center
in which twelve holes were cut to allow for venting.
The M1938 helmet was constructed in four
different centimeter shell sizes (64, 66, 68, 71). The shell was
stamped with four holes where the lining could be attached to the
helmet shell using spanner-bolts. Original examples are stamped
with "ET" or "ckl" representing both trademarks used by the Thale
manufacturing facility. No other revisions to the basic design were
introduced after 1938. Early helmets bore a double decal
configuration consisting of the Luftwaffe eagle and the National
tricolored shield of Germany. The German Army (Heer) also used
the standard Armed Forces Eagle insignia (Wehrmachtsadler) for a very
short time before being integrated into the Luftwaffe.
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