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M1 with marking unknown to me: Does KAT/X2H ring a bell for somebody?


Luxview
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I recently acquired this scrapyard find I need your help with. It is in poor condition and stripped to the bones (no liner, no chin straps) but I was intrigued by the colour and look. Front seam McCord with hinged loops, heat stamp off-center and only partly readable (8x8x). Colour is a dark blue (Navy? Air Force?) over a light blue, the interior still has its original finish (I think). Most remarkable, it is marked with KAT/X2H over the front, if I read it correctly. Is there anybody out there in the community of collectors who knows the meaning? Is it a common abbreviation I am not aware of? Or do you rather think the markings are from a second life in civil use? Thank you in advance - Any hints welcome !!

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Nobody out there who can give me a hint?

 

Do you think this helmet markings are civil or military (I'd assume that it is to cryptic for civil use)? Does the colour give any indication? Is KAT/X2H an abbreviation commonly known and I just failed to find it somewhere? Do you have any idea where I could research for more information or do I have to accept that not all secrets can be revealed?

 

Happy for any feedback...

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It might well be that some people think for good reasons that this helmet is not worth the effort, considering the bad condition. For me, being located in Europe, it is still something very special. While there are still plenty of post Vietnam M1 helmets and occasionally older ones on Ebay, anything that is soemwhat out of the norm is - in my experience - much more difficult to find than in the States. I hardly ever see even Navy helmets (maybe no wonder in continental Europe :-)).

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20 minutes ago, Brian Keith said:

I wonder if the blue paint might be United Nations color and markings?

BKW

 

Hi Brian, thank you very much. That could be an option. I didn't think about before but especially the lighter blue below the darker blue finish definitely has the UN look.

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I wouldn't touch it until you find out what that is.  Even in poor condition, if that is something cool, rough is better than none.

A restored helmet will never be anything more than a restored helmet.

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a quick search found this McDonnell X2H-1 ''X-Banshee''

might be worth spending some more time looking deeper.

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8 hours ago, PMAN12094 said:

You should try and restore it since it can’t get too much worse.

 

Hi PMAN, I get your point but I think even in this bad condition it is still an original and once altered, the authenticity will be gone forever so I'll be very careful.

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5 hours ago, Mr.Jerry said:

a quick search found this McDonnell X2H-1 ''X-Banshee''

might be worth spending some more time looking deeper.

 

Hi Mr. Jerry, thank you very much for this hint, that is an exciting option. I am very sceptical because the re-paint looks more recent to me than 40's and I can't imagine how a helmet related to the Banshee development could end up on a scrapyard in Germany but hey, you never know. I'll for sure do some more research into this direction...

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huntssurplus

Looks foreign to me. United Nations could be a lead. If it was US it would likely be a Navy helmet of some sort. 

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On 3/27/2021 at 5:32 AM, huntssurplus said:

Looks foreign to me. United Nations could be a lead. If it was US it would likely be a Navy helmet of some sort. 

Definitely possible. I was focusing on US manufactured only and not considering a potential surplus delivery to France, Austria, etc. and from there into United Nations use, who knows. I thought about Navy, too, also because the same vendor hat a couple of Navy helmets in similar state as this one (either gray and marked U.S.N. in white on the back or olive and marked U.S.N. in black on the back plus a talker helmet) but of course this could be coincidence, too.

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Thank you all for watching and giving me your insights and some good directions for further research. Not too optimistic that I can find out much more but if I manage to discover some robust evidence for this helmet's history, or at least parts of it, I'll share with you immediately...

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  • 3 weeks later...

No breakthrough yet but a little update: I managed to get back to the vendor and learned that the helmet comes from an US depot in Greece but she couldn't remember any details, just said "from the 40ies". The only bases I am aware about are Souda (Crete) and Hellenikon (Athens). Does anybody have more information about the history of US presence in Greece or can give me a hint where to find more?

 

In addition, when thoroughly looking at the marking I thought it might also be KAT/X214 instead of KAT/X2H but I suppose it won't make the decryption any easier...

 

 

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9 hours ago, Luxview said:

No breakthrough yet but a little update: I managed to get back to the vendor and learned that the helmet comes from an US depot in Greece but she couldn't remember any details, just said "from the 40ies". The only bases I am aware about are Souda (Crete) and Hellenikon (Athens). Does anybody have more information about the history of US presence in Greece or can give me a hint where to find more?

 

In addition, when thoroughly looking at the marking I thought it might also be KAT/X214 instead of KAT/X2H but I suppose it won't make the decryption any easier...

 

 

The US Army had combat advisors attached to the Greek Army during the Greek Civil War, approximately 1947-1949 while also equipping the Greek Army. 

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On 4/15/2021 at 9:33 PM, elh1311 said:

The US Army had combat advisors attached to the Greek Army during the Greek Civil War, approximately 1947-1949 while also equipping the Greek Army. 

That's very interesting. Means it could be also a piece of equipment delivered to the Greek Army? As far as I know, KAT and X would work in the Greek alphabet, what I originally read as "A" could even be a "Λ" too then. In fact, now as you made me aware, it looks more like a Λ but that could come simply from the template used. But still no idea what it could mean :-)

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On 3/27/2021 at 5:32 AM, huntssurplus said:

Looks foreign to me. United Nations could be a lead. If it was US it would likely be a Navy helmet of some sort. 

Yes, that would support what elh1311 shared. An US helmet delivered to support the regular Greek Army in the Greek Civil War, if not - most likely - a Navy helmet from an US Base in Greece as the other option.

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Another indication for Navy is this other helmet (Schlueter FS, Manganese steel rim and heavily rusted) which I think comes from the same place (confirmation from vendor pending).

42 A.jpg

42 B.jpg

42 C.jpg

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On 3/27/2021 at 12:32 AM, huntssurplus said:

Looks foreign to me. United Nations could be a lead. If it was US it would likely be a Navy helmet of some sort. 


I don’t think the OP’s helmet is a USN helmet. Looks foreign military to me. 

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  • 1 month later...

No further discoveries but I felt obliged to close this thread with a quick summary, in case somebody stumbles upon a similar piece and is looking for answers here. Not every secret can be revealed but what can be said at least with some confidence is that

 

- This helmet was found in Greece

- Its markings are most likely Greek and read KΛT/X2H or KΛT/X214 (in fact, a friend of mine who speaks Greek was quite confident that the markings are Greek)

- It might have been used on an UN mission (either with the Greek army or before), as the colour below the dark blue indicates

- It is possible that the helmet came to Greece during civil war as part of US support

 

In addition, I had some lessons learned, I don't want to bore you with (around being more careful with my assumptions :-)).

 

Thank you all of you who took the time and shared your knowledge !!

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