M1942 Helmets

The last wartime upgrade to the standard helmet took place on 6 July 1942 as part of an overall restructuring of Germany’s wartime production efforts.   The rolled edge found on M1935 and M1940 helmets was discontinued as a measure of economy.  On 1 August 1942 the first M1942 helmets were placed into production.  By this time, the standard helmet was now made in four basic steps by hot stamping steel into the desired shape.  The older process of press forming the shell, in combination with oven heated tempering, had now been replaced by a faster and more efficient method.  Many M1942 helmets bear the signs of rapid hot stamping as demonstrated by rippled stress marks in areas where the steel is shaped to form rounded corners.  The M1942 was mass-produced until late 1944 and early 1945 when most facilities were overrun by Allied armies or simply left idle by the lack of sufficient materials for the production of helmets.  Initially helmets received a single second pattern Luftwaffe decal on the left side of the helmet.  This was discontinued in 1943 as part of an effort to improve concealment in the field as well as to reduce cost and time of overall helmet production. Colors found on M1942 helmets range from medium to dark blue-gray.  Virtually all helmets show texture of some sort in the paint finish.  The texture can be very fine or extremely course.

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This Information Track provides historical facts pertaining to M1942 Luftwaffe Helmets from 1942-1945.  Individual links related to this subject are outlined below.