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Photo:
Second Pattern Zinc M1931 Liner.
| The liner band is the
innermost part of the helmet and the portion to which the leather
liner was attached. As an entire unit, the liner that was fitted
inside a World War II German combat helmet consisted of two metal bands and
an eight or nine finger leather liner and drawstring. The inside of
the liner band was a thin pliable sheet of metal to which a series of
flat metal bars were riveted. These metal bars acted as springs when
interlocked to the thicker outer band of metal.
Riveted to the outside of the liner
band were two flat metal retainers which held a small "D" ring to
which the chinstrap was attached. One "D" ring was fastened on each
side of the helmet liner about equal to where the ear was located when
worn. The chinstrap attachment was constructed in such a way
that the "D" ring could swing from front to back to allow the wearer
the ability to adjust the chinstrap's position under the chin.
This also allowed the chinstrap to be placed on top of the helmet's
visor when not worn under the chin.
Original
liner bands were marked in three different locations. The first
consisted of a single two digit stamp on the inside front of the inner
liner band. This number represented the size of the leather attachment
(and head size) of the wearer in metric equivalents (centimeters). On
the outer left side of the liner band the shell size of the helmet and
the leather size was stamped into the metal. For example, a helmet
manufactured with a 64 cm circumference would be marked with "64 n.A.
57" indicating that the liner band could accommodate a size 64 shell
for a wearer with a 57 cm head size. The "n.A" was a designation
indicating "Neue Art" or "New Model."
On the outer right side of
the liner band the manufacturer's name, location, and date of
production were placed. After 1942 the name of the company was
omitted in favor of the required National Business Number (Reichsbetreibsnummer-RBNr.).
This number served as an eight-digit serial code designed to prevent
Allied intelligence from locating (and bombing from the air) the
manufacturing facilities. Some liners can be found bearing no marks,
but these are generally those that have had shallow stampings
resulting in the overall appearance that no marks were placed on the
liner to begin with. |
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Overview
Each section of German-Helmets.com
is divided into separate Information Tracks that outline important
details, facts, and historical notes pertaining to steel helmets used by
the German Armed Forces during World War II.
Information Tracks are organized
by subject matter and their content is directly related to the service arm
or organization to which each topic is related. Topic areas that
bridge one subject matter to another are cross linked within each Information Track.
This Information Track provides historical
facts pertaining to liner systems used in German helmets from 1933-1945. Individual links related to this subject are
outlined below.
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