Thank you, brother - I was just going to text you to make sure that you saw this beautiful helmet.  

Certainly looks like a German made 3rd Air Force.  Nice!   -Ski

@TXMarine81, first off just a beautiful helmet there. A one looker in my opinion. It’s funny you didn't mention it, but in at least one photo the background looks blue.    I think it will be really tough to determine for certain the color, and you are definitely on the right track in trying to identify the name and associate the vet with the company. I will check a reference or two I have to see if anything comes up.    In studying the art of these helmets for years, I will offer that the style of this Indianhead is more familiar on the headquarter helmets as well as the 3rd battalion Fifth Marine helmets I have seen. This observation is not infallible. We know that it was not uncommon for one artist to paint “many” or even “most” of the helmets in a company, It would be pretty naiive to think that there are no variations in the design within one company. Having said this, once again , I think the odds are better than average that this helmet is blue or black and not purple based on the design of the Indianhead.     …..So the above is what I wrote before Carl beat me to the punch. I was searching for a picture when he completed his research. Good work @Blacksmith. Here is a pic of an 8th MG helmet in my collection. It has the most popular 8th MG helmet design I have seen. I am not surprised that this one comes in blue. Be happy with that, the blue ones in my experience are rare!

It's not only the fakers you have to worry about.  Don't forget about reenactors.   -Ski

It’s actually a blue square for 3/5 Marines.     It was a K Company helmet which was passed between PVT Anderson Chester (MCSN: 4617511, enlisted 8/5/18) and CPL Melvin Dale Cashdollar (MCSN: 4605632, enlisted 5/28/18).   As they were in the same company at the same time, my guess would be that it was one of their helmets which was autographed by his buddy at war’s end.       Edit: I added the November 1918 Muster Roll of K Company, showing both of their names.      

Brought home by an Army Air Force Officer in the 14th Air Force. 

Well, I guess I have grown a taste for the ugly unloved and often overlooked (in my experience) knives made and used during WW2. I thought maybe it would be a good idea to have an ongoing thread featuring examples of what the collector on here have found or seen. As the title implys, I see a distinct difference between the terminology used, theatre made as in a full on construction from scratch and what some could call ''beautification''. Be this a repair of rotten handles, snapped tangs and pommels or just the work of someone in service with a bit of skill and time on their hands.    This might be a chance to add context to the knives encountered and that sit in our collections. Who it belonged to and the users area of service would be important. Whilst it maybe a long shot in the dark, maybe we could find patterns forming. It would be interesting to compile any patterns and details of knives that we find, for example materials used, styles, level of work and so forth.  If you have a knife that you want to share, then I encourage you to voice your observations and explain how you came to your conclusion. Maybe we could separate the post WW2 modifications of WW2 produced knives whilst identifying any key features and commonalities if that makes sense.    Basically in a nutshell, a living depository that everyone can contribute to but most importantly, have fun sharing the knowledge.  Ill do a write up with some of the pieces in my collection so far once I get a bit of down time. 

Wow Brig I never knew that. Thanks for sharing. Very helpful. Kevin

P1930s   See the image to tell the slight differences between the P20 and P30