M45;191071
[I said:
I felt I gave some pretty good points about this helmet and painted snow camos in general. Very few exist in collections today probably because the war ended in late spring 1945 after the snow had melted. Former white wash helmets had their whitewash scrubbed off. Former snow camos were reissued with slategray or green gray. These have been posted on this thread previously. Most untouched painted white originals have been collected up long ago.[/I]
Frank, I think that's a reasonable request.
Come to think about it, there really wasn't any big opportunity for Western Allied forces to acquire German snow camos.
Afrika Campaign: little snow
Italian Campaign: little snow.
Normandy breakout to German border: little snow
Southern France offensive to German border: little snow.
During the first part of the Battle of the Bulge the Allies were being pushed back. (little opportunity to acquire souvenirs)
The last part of the Battle the Germans were pushed back into Germany, no big surrender piles with painted white snow camos. (little opportunity to acquire souvenirs)
As spring arrived, most former snow camos were reissued or had whitewash scrubbed off.
And considering German snow camos in general, white painted ones were in the minority, IMO. White hoods, camo covers (issue and makeshift) and whitewash was probably much more common (much easier to return to a standard finish after snow had melted).
During the mass surrenders in April-May 1945, most painted snow camos had been reissued by this time for obvious reasons. That bright white helmet was a target.
I don't even count Russian Front helmets.
White painted snow camos were rare in May 1945. The rare stuff tended to get collected up over the decades.
The result: very few originals floating around today.
