Tag Archives: Hungarian M38 helmet

Playing the hits

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Happy National Vinyl Record Day!

Finnish soldiers play a gramophone they found on 8 August 1941 in recently-liberated Jaakkima, Finland (today’s Yakkima, Russia), during the opening offensive of the Continuation War. The Karelian village had been lost to the Soviets in 1940 during the Winter War.

“Vallatulla gramofonilla soitetaan.” Via Sa-Kuva

The gentleman in the center three of the four helmeted men to the left appear to have the new Finnish M40 turtle-style helmet while the three to the center-right have Hungarian M38s. If you notice the man almost totally behind the NCO, standing by the tree, has a Stalhelm complete with a Great War style add-on brow plate, an item that was almost universally despised by those who wore one due to the added weight. There is also a Mosin rifle in the back. The undersergeant to the right with the cigarette looks to have a Polish wz. 33 (Granat Obronny) “screw top” grenade on his belt, no doubt captured by the Germans in 1939 and passed on as military aid. Meanwhile, the gentleman in the center, possibly a machine gunner, has a Lindholmin-style universal holster for the Lahti L-35 9mm pistol, or a rarer m/23 Luger in .30-caliber. Also, note the two brand-new Soviet SVT-40s which have been given a new home.

Can you imagine the struggle being a QM in the Finnish Army in 1941? We’ve talked about the confusing variety of helmets used by the force previously.

A tough time in the snow, 80 years ago

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Finnish soldiers belonging to the “Company of Death.” Summa, 20 December 1939 during the Winter War with the Soviet Union.

The covers are Great War-era Austro-German M16/17/18 stahlhelme, some 80,000 of which were bought surplus for pfennigs on the mark in the 1920s.

The Finns later received as military aide large quantities (estimated 40,000) of updated German M35/40 helmets as well as smaller amounts of Czech M34s, Italian M33s, and Hungarian M38s during the Continuation War against the Soviets, a period during which most of the preceding were outright martial allies.

Finnish soldiers loading a heavy mortar, possibly a 120mm Krh/40, 7 July 1944, near Vyborg. Their headgear consists of Italian, German and Czechoslovakian helmets, also, note the very well-worn uniforms.

The Finns liked the German design so much that, in 1955, they ordered another 50,000 M40 type helmets from East Germany to equip their forces. These consist of both new-made and refurbished M35/40/42 models and carry the post-war M55 designation to set them apart.

The Finns used their stahlhelme until as late as the 1970s in various reserve units and kept them in arsenal storage until the end of the Cold War, just in case. They are readily available on the surplus market–especially the M55s– for about $50 smackers, skeletons not included.