WWII GERMAN DAK TROPICAL HELMET
The German Afrika Korps, Deutsches Afrikakorps (DAK), was the German expeditionary force in Libya
and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II. The force was kept as a distinct
formation and became the main German contribution to Panzer Army Africa which evolved into the
German-Italian Panzer Army (Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee) and Army Group Africa.
The Afrikakorps is one of the most legendary fighting units of the third reich. Lead by Field Marshall Rommel, this unit carved itself a place
in history by its cunning fighting techniques.
The pith helmet is one of the best well known trademarks of the combat division. The example displayed on this page is an early version.
The helmet comes with two emblems, a flag and an eagle. The emblems are located to each side.
This section of the website provides information that allows to identify these type of hats
of the Third Reich. At the same time provides information regarding its present worth.
A closeup of the eagle emblem can be seen here (bottom-left).
The helmets were built with a leather sweat band. Also typical of the helmets is the red material on the inside top.
The spring on the top attachement of the helmet is displayed on the picture below.
The leather chinstrap is secured by a hook on the inside of the helmet.
The sweatband is attached via clips. Also notice the black string stiching used to put together
the sweatband.
The inside of the sweatband is branded with the date and size of the helmet. This sample is dated
1941. The outside of the band is marked with the letters JHS. What is interesting is the stamp of the word
"GERMANY". Normally this is an export symbol implying that at one point the helmet was exported.
| 
Swat the Shopping Bug to view related military items!
