A Second Pattern Wehrmacht Afrika Korps Pith Helmet

A second pattern 1942, size 57, Wehrmacht Afrika Korps pith helmet; solid construction with green felt exterior and red felt interior with air vents; air vent finial; zinc tri-colour shield on right side and shield of a German eagle clutching a swastika on left side; olive green leather band trim surrounding the edge of helmet with matching olive green leather chin strap; tan leather sweatband unmarked on the outside but marked “60 N”, “4-42”, and ”57 F.ST.L” on the inside of sweatband; interior held in place with cotter pins; better than extremely fine condition. Footnote: Pith helmets are lightweight cloth-covered (1st pattern) or felt-covered (2nd pattern) helmets used by the German Afrika Korps (Deutsches Afrikakorps). The Deutsche Afrikakorps was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of WWII. Erwin Rommel was in command of the DAK to support the Italian army who had been faced with heavy Commonwealth Force counter-offensives of the British Eighth Army. Most of these pith helmets (not this one) are marked “Germany” on the sweatband. Due to Rommel’s Afrika Korps early in the war, supply depots were jam-packed with these helmets to supply German occupation forces after the war. After Rommel’s failure, with supply depots full of these helmets, a British entrepreneur bought the whole lot of surplus helmets from the British Government, and shipped them out of Germany to dealers in England and America. However, the requirement was that these surplus helmets must say “Germany” in them before being exported outside of Germany. Since this helmet does not say “Germany” on the inside, it is safe to assume that this helmet once belonged to a German DAK soldier and was sent home as war booty.