©

Vol. XIV, No. 2 Spring 2012

OUR SPECIAL
HELMET ISSUE:

HUNGARIAN
PROTECTIVE
HEADGEAR OF THE
20TH CENTURY

CZINK COLLECTION - PHOTO COLOURIZED BY ORINCSAY

 A note from the Editor
I am very proud to have worked together with Major Dr. Tamás Baczoni on this
issue of the Magyar Front. The material featured is very useful, not only to military
history enthusiasts, but specifically to those collecting and handling vintage combat
helmets.
All collectors know that extensive knowledge and careful examination of every
object is very important in determining its value and authenticity – mid 20th Century
Hungarian military helmets are a particularly bewildering subject because older
stockpiles were mixed with new parts, materiel shortages necessitated that old German
helmet shells were pressed into service with the post-WWII Hungarian armed forces,
and the passage of time has caused mix-ups of components and the creation of pieces of
MAGYAR FRONT fantasy.
VOLUME XIV, ISSUE 2 I recall that back in the 1970s, an American military surplus mail order company
SPRING 2012 offered “genuine Hungarian army helmets” in their catalogue. I can’t imagine how a
North American firm would have got their hands on Hungarian surplus during the Cold
Published quarterly by War, and I don’t recall if they advertised them as being from World War II, however,
Peter Czink VRNT, Editor-Designer they turned up in quantity in the early days of mass interest in anything even remotely
“German.” Since then, especially with today’s online auctions, these odd, repainted
The NEW FRONT: Hungarian helmets, fitted with all sorts of liners (including completely new German
(International Hungarian Military style ones), turn up quite regularly. I hope that this issue of the Magyar Front will be
History Preservation Society) helpful to anyone trying to figure out exactly what type of helmet that has been sitting
on their shelf or that they are about to bid on.
Peter Czink VRNT
President
I believe that you all already know of our fellow IHMHPS society member Péter
Orincsay, but I would like to take this opportunity to reintroduce him to you as our new
Lorraine Weideman IHMHPS Scandinavia Vice-President. Although our regular, paid membership hovers
Vice-President, Webmaster
at around fifty people (it varies a little from year to year), we have a great many inquir-
Péter v. Laborc ies from around the world. The fact that we offer so much free information (our past
Vice-President, Hungary Magyar Front issues and our downloads) on our website is a double-edged sword –
John Keir hundreds of new visitors each month get the benefit of our work, yet they don’t join and
Vice-President, United Kingdom become paying members. I’m OK with that, as our mission is one of education,
however, to keep on top of all of the questions and inquiries, and to encourage others to
George Hennessy
take a more active part in the IHMHPS, we need hard-working representatives all over
Vice-President, Australia
the world.
Josef Lang VRNT RVM You have certainly seen Péter Orincsay work in our publication – his meticulously
Vice-President, Germany colourized and restored photographs are all gems. He, like so many of our members, is
Manfred Winter also an exemplary volunteer – always ready to lend a hand. He was born in the town of
Vice-President, Austria Värnamo, in Sweden, to Hungarian parents. Growing up, immersed in the stories of his
grandparents’ experiences in both World Wars, and his father’s firsthand recollections
Sergey Slakaev
Vice-President, Russian Federation of the 1956 uprising, his interest in history was forever guaranteed.
He followed the family tradition and finished his military service in the Jämtlands
Péter Orincsay Fältjägar Regiment in Östersund, followed by two tours in the Balkans with the NATO
Vice-President, Scandinavia
peacekeeping force. Péter’s interest in photography was also something that played a
Dr. Gergely Pál Sallay significant role his life. Even as a boy, he documented his everyday life and the people
Historical Consultant, Correspondent around him, and this interest developed into a full-time occupation over the years. As a
brigade photographer in the peacekeeping force, and as a freelance news photographer,
PO Box 74527 Kitsilano PO his passion for photography took him all over the world.
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6K 4P4 Canada 604 733-9948 Settling in Göteborg after years of traveling, Péter married, and temporarily put aside
his hobbies and accepted steady governmental employment. It was at this time that he
czink@[Link] truly discovered his interest in his own historical heritage – the knowledge he gained
[Link] from his years of experience working with digital photography was focused on the
©2012 All rights reserved preservation of historical images. Over time, Péter developed many unique photo-
graphic digitalizing and colouring techniques, and is constantly restoring old
Membership in the
International Hungarian Military History
photographs. Péter is a collector of Hungarian military as well.
Preservation Society is $40.00 annually, Keep an eye on his blogs - [Link] and [Link] - and feel
and includes the Magyar Front. free to contact him – this knowledgeable and helpful IHMHPS member is always ready
The original Magyar Front was the to share his passion. [Link].
weekly newspaper of the Frontline
Fighter’s Association, and was
published from the early 1930s until
Our Cover
the end of the Second World War. Another superb colourization by Péter Orincsay - a highly decorated, unidentified
colonel from the rapid troops wearing the M1935 aluminim officer’s parade helmet.
2
 Hungarian
Protective
Headgear of the
20th Century
by Tamás Baczoni and Peter Czink

Even though the steel helmet is considered an innovation erly made steel helmet was needed, as the modified dragoon
of the First World War, several experimental helmets were helmets were impractical, uncomfortable and not suitable for
tested by European armies in the first decade of the 20th mass distribution. An original example is pictured below.
Century, as part of new field-uniform projects, developed At that time, in 1916, the German Army was introducing
after the experiences of the Russo-Japanese War, the Boer a steel helmet, so the simplest solution was to order helmets
War, Balkan Wars, etc. Trench warfare of World War I from their ally, and/or to produce the German type of helmet
caused a very high number of head wounds (the in the factories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
head was the first part of the body visible At first, several thousands of German M16
over trench parapets) and artillery fire was helmets were imported and supplied to the
also very dangerous, sending shrapnel troops. Then a domestic helmet type
flying everywhere over the battle- (based on the German model) was
fields. developed by the Arthur Krupp
The Austro-Hungarian army Metallwarenfabrik AG Berndorf.
saw the necessity for protective Next, the licence for the German
headgear first-hand on the Isonzo helmet was purchased, and after
front, where the rocky environ- minor modifications, it was
ment exacerbated the number of produced by Austro-Hungarian
head wounds. After experimen- firms. Two helmet manufactur-
tation with modernizing ers made them in Hungary:
existing dragoon helmets Manfred Weiss in Cse-
(removal of the comb pel (part of Budapest),
and installing a heavy and Scholtz in Mateócz
steel frontal plate to (today Matejovice, Slova-
the helmet body), it kia). The German helmets
MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
was realized that a prop- COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO Continued on page 5...

3
 MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO

MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM

COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO

Commonly known as the “Berndorfer” - the first Austro-Hungarian made helmets were of similar
construction to the German ones. Because of different manufacturing methods, the visor was shaped differently,
and ventilation was through the top of the helmet, rather than the sides. It received its name from the location
of the factory, where 140,000 units were manufactured. This example from the Military History Museum
suffered damage from either shrapnel or a projectile - the entry point can be seen on its
upper right side, while the considerable exit hole is on the left side.

4
MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
...continued from page 3
COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO were left in their original colour and with their original
accessories, including the German M91 chinstrap. The
German chinstrap was easily lost, however, and since
there were no replacement parts, an Austro-Hungarian
made canvas chinstrap was issued.
The Austro-Hungarian helmet (officially known
as the Stahlhelm nach österreichischem Muster)
was of similar construction to the German
helmet, but with some changes - the visor of the
helmet had a different shape, and the ventila-
tion lug was placed on the top of the helmet.
This helmet was also known as “Berndorfer” -
after the location of the factory, and was
produced in a limited quantity of 140,000
pieces, between May and November of 1917.
After that, production was ceased and the
Berndorf factory changed to production of the
German version.
The Austro-Hungarian made German type of
helmet (officially known as Stahlhelm nach
deutschem Muster) was produced with minor
modifications - the chinstrap holder was attached
differently, as those of both the M16 and M17 German
helmets were found to be impractical. The chinstrap holder
was riveted directly to the body of the helmet, while the
Berndorf factory fixed the chinstrap directly to the helmet’s
liner band, sparing both rivets and labour. All Austro-
Above: German style liner of the helmet at left. Hungarian made helmets were painted field-brown, while the
German import helmets were left in their original field-grey
Below: An Austro-Hungarian style Berndorfer liner.
colour. It is possible that the field-brown colour was part of
the planned new uniform for the army - in 1917-1918 several
experiments were made, and different prototype uniforms
were evaluated, but the end of the war brought these projects
to an end.
After the war, the use of WWI Austro-Hungarian
helmets continued in many Central European states.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later
Yugoslavia) used mostly the French Adrian and
Italian type helmets. The Czechoslovakians tried
to modify the look of their helmets, simply to
make them less Austrian in appearance, while
the Austrian and Hungarian armies (in
Hungary both the Red Army and the
Nationalist Army) used their helmets in
unaltered form. However, in the 1920s, the
Berndorfer helmets were withdrawn from
army use and the German type helmet became
the standard, not only because the Berndorfer
was scarcer, but a peacetime army needed a
standard and uniform helmet. In Hungary the
World War I helmets were sometimes re-linered
and repainted to the new field green colour. It is
possible the Manfred Weiss Company also produced
World War I type helmets in the 1920s and 1930s, but
so far no official records have been found.
In the mid-thirties, the World War I helmet became
MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
COLLECTION
obsolete, as it was far too heavy and cumbersome, unsuitable
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO
Continued on page 13...

5
 The large ventilation “lugs”
served two purposes - to allow
airflow into the helmet, and
for the mounting of the
frontal armour plate.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

The most obvious differences

between the Austro-Hungarian M1917
steel helmet and those produced in
Germany was the field brown
paint and the linen chin strap.
Also, the rivets holding the
fixed chinstrap hardware are located
higher than the German versions.
Three strong leather pads,
mounted on a metal inner helmet
band were backed by linen pillows,
stuffed with horse hair or wool.
A cord passes through the painted
metal eyelets in each pad to allow
for more personal adjustment.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

The only markings found on

this example is a handwritten
number “37” - ink stamps and
other markings can also be
found on these helmets.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

6
 Drawings (originally black and white) from an inter-war Hungarian uniform manual.
The M1917 helmet is shown with its accessories: the frontal armour plate, used primarily by personnel of
observation posts, and the linen helmet cover (for softening the lines of the helmet, making it less conspicuous).
This type of helmet was produced in four sizes - 62, 64, 66 and 68. Sometimes these
numbers can be found stamped into the inside left of the helmet’s neck guard.
Two versions of the linen chinstrap were also pictured - at left with a friction buckle,
and at right with a simplified, standard buckle and leather reinforced end.

7
 CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

The M1935 steel helmet.

This example is stamped on the inner
side-guard with a small Hungarian
coat-of-arms and the code “GY66.”

M1935 helmets had a bushing in each

side vent hole, and well-made domed
rivets to hold the liner band in place.

CZINK COLLECTION / WEIDEMAN PHOTO

The quality of the M1935 helmet is very

high - note the leather liner (which is backed
by pads) and the strong leather chin strap
with brass buckle. The inner pads could
be adjusted by adding or removing
the stuffing, and the drawstring helped
to make a more personal fit.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

At left, the ubiquitous bracket,

attached by two rivets to the rear
of the neck guard.

8 CZINK COLLECTION / WEIDEMAN PHOTO

 THE HUNGARIAN HELMET BRACKET
The most well-known and recognized aspect
of the Hungarian World War II era helmet is the
bracket on the outside of the rear neck-guard.
Although universally known to be made for
the purpose of hanging or carrying, pictures of the
bracket in use don’t seem to exist. Even period
Hungarian military equipment regulations,
like the one shown above, give clear
instructions (under all sorts of circumstances),
to use one of the issue universal leather straps,
threaded through the D-rings of the chinstrap,
to attach the helmet to other pieces of kit.
The detail at left, however, does illustrate
what may have been the original intended use
for the bracket. It is from the regulations
for hanging the helmet from the M1935,
M1927 and M1906 cavalry saddles.
A universal leather strap is threaded
through the helmet’s bracket and
secured. Next, the helmet’s chinstrap is
fastened around the leather horseshoe case,
which is also secured to the saddle.

9
 CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

Left: The M1935 Type B

Civil Air Defence helmet.
These helmets were strengthened
versions of the standard Type A models.
The cruciform aluminum reinforcement
is riveted to the helmet shell.

The way the heavy-duty

chin strap assembly was worn
can be seen clearly at left.
Although a standard leather
chinstrap with brass buckle
passed under the chin, V-shaped
straps, incorporating steel
springs covered in cloth,
connected the chin strap
to the helmet liner.
This example is stamped
on the inner side-guard
with the code “GY68.”
The liner is also ink-stamped
with the number “34”
in several places.

Right: M1935
Type A helmet with
M.[agyar] KIR.[ályi] POSTA
(Royal Hungarian Post),
along with the Hungarian
crown and postal horn,
stencilled on the front.
These helmets would have
been issued to postal
employees who would
have been vulnerable
during air raids.
CZINK COLLECTION / WEIDEMAN PHOTO

10
 CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

Right: Another M1935 Type B

State Fire Service helmet.
These helmets were usually painted the
standard Civil Air Defence blue, however,
some are known to be painted black - or
like this example, a very dark brown

Below:
The heavy-duty liner,
unique to the Type B helmet.
Very thick wool-felt padding
behind the leather liner
components provides
extra protection.
The inner side-guard is
stamped “GY66” and a
Hungarian coat-of-arms
is on the inner back.

A separate, one-piece
stamped-metal badge was fixed
to the front of Fire Service helmets,
Consisting of a stylized cockade
with a crowned Hungarian
coat-of-arms within a wreath,
topped by a representation of flames.
These helmets remained in use
after the war, however,
the badge was replaced with
one that had only the shield in
the centre of the cockade.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

11
 The M1935 Officer’s Aluminum Parade Helmet

CZINK COLLECTION

The colonel pictured above (also the subject

of our cover), wears the M1935 aluminum
parade helmet. The earlier M1933 model was
a much closer representation of the World War I
CZINK COLLECTION
steel helmet, and although this new one sports the WEIDEMAN PHOTO
old-fashioned lugs for decoration, it’s shape is
more like that of the M1935 steel helmet.

The elegant lining

of the parade helmet
consists of a moulded
felt dome with a fine
leather sweatband,
held closed with a
white silk bow.
The special leather
chin strap easily slides
open and closed.
The only marking
on this example is a
hand-written “57” in-
side the band.

CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

12
 MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTOS

The “1947-type” steel helmet, above, is actually a German M35/40 helmet with a new Hungarian liner.

MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM COLLECTION

FERENC BÁLINT PHOTOS

The “1949-type” steel helmet, above - a crudely repainted and re-linered M1935; no longer with vent hole bushings.

...continued from page 5

for modern warfare. Hungary looked to their experience Afghanistan for example. In Poland, both the army and the
from the First World War and asked for German help – and police used such helmets.
introduced the new German helmet type (the Stahlhelm Following the devastation of World War II, the new
1935). The German licence was bought, and with minor Hungarian Democratic Army had to make use of whatever
changes, Hungarian factories (primarily MÁVAG and the material they could find. There was such a shortage of
Győri Vagon és Gépgyár) started production of the helmet in uniforms that many soldiers wore their own civilian clothing,
January of 1936. The obsolete helmets were re-designated as with only a simple armband to denote their military status.
M1915 helmets, and it was ordered that the rectangular Regarding helmets, practically anything was pressed into
bracket attachment (like the one on the M1935 helmet) service. Along with leftover M1935s, surplus M35, M35/40
should be added. Instead of the outmoded M1924 officer’s and M42 German helmets were also repainted and reissued
parade dress helmet (the “Lohengrin”), an aluminium parade with Hungarian liners. M1933 and M1935 officer’s alumi-
helmet, in the form of the steel helmet, was introduced for num helmets continued their service as parade helmets for
officers in 1933, and then in 1935, a new form was troops on special occasions.
introduced to match the M1935 steel helmet. The first standard post-war liner was made of four pads of
Another unusual aspect of the history of Hungarian dark-brown poor-quality artificial leather. It seems the
helmets is that (despite the usual international custom to M1935 shells were also produced post-war, in a lower-
issue outdated army helmets to civil defence units), the quality version. The inner edges of the rim were crude,
Hungarian Civil Air Defence was issued with new blue- brackets were incorrectly positioned and the acceptance
painted M1935 helmets in 1938 (while the WWI type stamp with the royal coat-of-arms was no longer used.
helmets were still used on the Eastern Front by Hungarian Sometimes the bushings in the ventilation openings were left
soldiers even in 1941-1942). Civil Defence firemen received unfinished - simply a hole drilled through each side of the
strengthened M1935s in blue. These are known as “Type B” helmet (see photos on this page).
(while the standard Civil Defence helmet was designated Today, these helmets are commonly known as “Tildy
“Type A”). helmets” (after Zoltán Tildy, the President of Hungary
Interestingly, after the First World War, different between 1946 and 1948), although it would more correct to
countries issued ex-Austro-Hungarian helmets - Poland and Continued on page 15...

13
 LABORC COLLECTION / PHOTO

CZINK COLLECTION

M1935 WEIDEMAN PHOTO

LABORC COLLECTION / PHOTO

“1947-type” MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM

COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO

LABORC COLLECTION / PHOTO

Left: Helmet liners for comparison - a wartime

M1935, the “1947-type” and “1949-type.”
Above: Three interesting examples of
“1947-type” helmets (re-issued M1935s) used post-war.
Top: A fireman’s helmet stencilled with “XIX” on the
front from Budapest’s XIXth District (post-1950).
Middle: The Soproni Textilgyár (Sopron Textile factory)
logo “SOTEX” stencilled with a red star.
Bottom: An unidentified fire-fighting unit’s helmet.
“1949-type” MILITARY HISTORY MUSEUM
COLLECTION
FERENC BÁLINT PHOTO

14
...continued from page 13
refer to them as “Rákosi helmets” (after his successor,
Mátyás Rákosi), because they were fabricated from 1949-50,
and issued until the new Soviet type of helmet was adopted
in 1952-53.
In 1950, the Hungarian People’s Army introduced a new
helmet type - nothing other than the Soviet Ssh41, as it was
part of the “Sovietization” of the uniform, gear and spirit of
the Hungarian armed forces. The new helmet was produced
in the Budafoki Zománcárugyár, and the first mass supply
was seen during the 1951 May Day Parade. The first
helmets, an example of which is pictured at right, were made
with a frontal decal (red star in red-white-green circle),
however, it was realized that such an insignia was too
dangerous for combat use, and therefore the decaled helmets
CZINK COLLECTION
were only used as parade helmets, while plain helmets were WEIDEMAN PHOTO

then supplied to the troops without the decal. There was a

scarce variation (only 1000 produced) of the M1950 helmet
made of lightweight aluminium and issued to military bands
– today this is one of the rarest helmet types in the world, as
no examples are known to exist today. Another variation,
with modified liner and silver paint, was used by the Fire
Department. These helmets also had ventilation lugs on the
side of the shell. The M1950 helmet was used unaltered
until the 1970s, by the Army, Police, Worker's Militia, and
all other uniformed organizations. Millions were produced
during the Cold War, and it is thought that they were
continually manufactured until the 1960s.
The three-pad liner and simple leather chinstrap of the
M1950 helmet was found to be uncomfortable, and outdated
by the late 1960s, and a modernization program was started.
The shape of the shell remained unchanged (although the
developers neglected to consider that the new Soviet Ssh66
helmet had a modified shell). Instead of painting the helmet,
the shell received plastic coating, which was problematic -
it was very shiny (meant to be used with a helmet net or
cover, however, soldiers rarely saw such accessories). The
liner was heavily modified, the very simple three-pad
construction was replaced by a complex four-pad and liner
construction, supported with an “Y” chinstrap which featured
CZINK COLLECTION
a hook and ring quick opening mechanism. The M1970 WEIDEMAN PHOTO

helmet was quite a step forward, but really too late, as by the
1970s, some armies were already developing composite
helmets.
The last development of the Soviet-type helmet was in the
late 1980s, when the plastic-coating of the shell was
eliminated and a more traditional and practical matte paint
finish was applied – as well as the shell itself being made
stronger and more durable. The liner of the M1970/90 (not
an official designation) was left unchanged. Despite all of
this, there were experiments with the modernization of the
M1970 helmet (the “Trial 1” helmet was issued with a
German Schubert liner, and the “Trial 2” helmet was
issued with the liner of the Fire Department). Also,
different types of composite helmets were imported
(mostly for special operations troops) – the Israeli
made Orlite and Rabintex helmets, for example.
The current, standard helmet type of the Hungarian
Defence Forces is still the M1970/90 helmet. CZINK COLLECTION
WEIDEMAN PHOTO

15