North Vietnamese Army Steel Helmet Captured in 1969

The North Vietnamese Army were supplied hundreds of thousands of steel helmets during the War.  These helmets came mostly from the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary but also came from the East Germans and Yugoslavs.  The Chinese were not mass producing steel helmets during the 1960s.

In the North, they were routinely worn by anti-aircraft units. They were extensively issued along the HCM Trail due to the constant bombing there.  They were also carried by Infantry soldiers to the South and were worn and captured in battle.

In the South, many NVA became friendly fire casualties due to wearing helmets without camouflage.  They were mistaken for ARVN soldiers and shot.  As a result, many NVA helmets brought back from Vietnam have netting of some kind. The nets made of cotton, bamboo reeds and communication wire of various colors.  I once read that in 1966 the NVA Command gave an order to all units to attach nets to lower the friendly fire rate.

This is a Hungarian made helmet, a copy of the Soviet Model 1940. The Hungarians used cloth instead of faux leather to make the three pad liner in their helmets. It came with a tag indicating it was captured by the ARVN 38th Ranger Bn in Cambodia in 1969. This one has a great jungle patina and represents yet another supplier of communist made war material to Hanoi.