Pre-WW2 Polish Helmet wz.31 Silesian Police “Salamandra”

Pre-WW2 Polish helmet, 1931 pattern  manufactured by Huta Ludwików in 1938, for the Police of the Silesian Voivodeship.

A one-piece helmet with a slight undercut and a small but visible contoured visor. Helmet edges cut and rounded. Helmet pressed in alloy steel. The helmet is painted with a khaki cork, the so-called “Salamander” paint. At the front of the shell, a few centimeters above the visor, two circular holes located vertically, used to attach the Polish State Eagle wz. 27. The interior of the helmet is visible khaki paint, the liner is equipped with a metal rim fixed with rivets. Three calfskin inserts are attached to the rim. Tongue with lace eyelets. (several ​​are missing). Control rivet without marks.Helmet marked “72” under the visor. On the back there is a characteristic aluminum plate mounted on the helmets for non-military use. The name of the producer on the plate (Ludwików Kielce 1938).

 The helmet did not pass the rigorous quality control for the military and was intended for non-military purposes, in this case by the State Police. The helmet was manufactured in 1938 for the order of the Police of the Silesian Province, which had a separate budget. Eagle on a helmet for the State Police, model 27 introduced in 1930, produced by the Henneberg Brothers in Warsaw. Rare wz.31 helmet for the State Police. The helmet was obtained without an eagle. The original eagle was fitted by us, but we did not fold the wires, leaving the decisions to the future owner. The interior has undergone no conservation, the leather interior has been originally fitted. One of the rarest versions of the legendary Polish helmet wz.31 “Salamandra”.

More information on the Polish Helmet wz.31 in volume 85 of the Wielkiego Leksykonu Września “Hełmy wz.1931”  by Krzysztof P. Kłoskowski and Jarosław J. Rolewski. More information about the eagle wz.27 in the article by Tomasz Zawistowski: https://www.polska1918-89.pl/pdf/policacyjne-orly-z-zystworni-platerow,4108.pdf.