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WWII IJA Helmet Grouping Bringback


AnDuc49
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I recently had the chance to pick up this grouping online directly from the vet's grandson.

During fighting in the Philippines, Anthony J. Curmaci Sr. of Scranton, PA picked up a helmet and cartridge belt off of a dead Japanese soldier, taking them home as a souviner (info via his grandson and service records).

Both are in extremely poor condition, being stored poorly (in this case, a basement) since practically the end of the war.

The helmet is in poor condition with only around 40-60% of it's paint job remaining. For some reason, someone at some point has removed around 30% of the paint on the rear of the helmet (perhaps they were cleaning it up?) which is unfortunate. The liner is quite dry rotted, but retains two of the three pads. The chinstrap is still tied in it's original knot and in hand, it's obvious that it was cut with a knife to make removal easier. Sections of the chinstrap are stone hard and darkly stained with what I can only assume was blood. The third pad was likely removed due to the blood staining it.

The cartridge belt is in equally poor condition. Poor storage has made it extremely dry rotted. Interestingly enough, half of it is still quite pliable and not as bad compared to the other.

Overall, it's a decent set and I'm happy to be the owner of an original Japanese helmet now. I hope that you all enjoy it. Please feel free to fix any mistakes I might've made

 

 

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I like it. Lot of blood going on there if that part of the history is true. Regardless, Japanese helmets are just hard to find. I always wanted one as my Dad was in the Pacific. It took a while but I grabbed the first one I saw. I suppose if I went hunting for them I'd see more. I have two cartridge boxes - both hard as rocks thanks to being rubberized/waterproofed.. Do you know what division the vet was in?

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Japanese helmets are hard to find....In fourty years of collecting and studying WW2, I'd say I've seen no more than a half dozen helmets show up around where I live....Bodes

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