WW2 German Beaded M40 Luftschutze/Home Front Helmet

A very appealing 'been there' example of the M40 Beaded Luftschutz helmet . These M40 helmets had failed to pass the stringent Wehrmacht quality controls for ballistic integrity & so were reworked with the addition of the raised beading around their circumference in order to readily distinguish them from satisfactory helmets. Although sub standard combat helmets they were deemed suitable for issue to Home Front personnel & as is the case here had a satin dark blue paint finish applied with a Luftschutz decal that was at somepoint later removed . This may well have been due to being used by another branch of the Civil Defence personnel , wartime photos show some beaded helmets in wear with decals & some without. This specimen has a low quality Size marked 54 leather liner & chinstrap fitted which is typical of several variants that can be found within these civilian issue examples. The number '48' can be seen to rear rim most lkely denoting a crew number .