The world leader in military collectibles, military antiques and the militaria industry. Original German M40 WWII Type Steel Helmet- Finnish M40/55, Size 59cm, US 7 3/8. A SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER. Original Item: In another military antiques coup, IMA has just acquired the last of all the known WWII helmet stocks from the government of Finland. Supplied throughout WWII and then under special contract for the Finnish Army in 1955, hence, they have become known as the M40/55 helmet. However, these helmets were made in the same factory, on the same machines and by some of the very same people that produced them for Germany in WWII. The leather liners and chinstraps were made in Finland for the Finnish army; styles vary, as some of the helmets were used up until the early 1970s. The shells do however, accept our splendid reproduction M35 WWII leather helmet liner and chinstrap with reproduction WW2 split pin and washer sets. For installation of a WWII reproduction German liner please be aware that drilling new front holes in liner, not the shell, might be required in some cases. Styles and colors (Field Grey, Field Green) may vary slightly so please see photos for variation examples. Each helmet is offered in good to very good condition, but will show storage wear, minor paint chips and scratches, and occasionally a small ding but all are free of major dents or imperfections. After all, these are real military helmets that were used by actual soldiers in the defense of their country. Sizing- we offer a range of sizes, but we sell these helmets based on the interior liner size, not shell size. However, a general rule of thumb is; size 55/56cm liners are usually inside size 62 shells, size 57/58cm liners are usually inside size 64/66 shells, and size 59cm and above liners are 66/68 shells. We cannot honor requests for specific shell sizes; we only honor requests for liner size. This is a size Size 59cm, US 7 3/8. This is a rare chance to own a genuine military issue German made M40 WWII style helmet for the almost the same price as a Chinese or Indian made reproduction. There is simply no comparison to a genuine combat helmet! History of Finnish Combat Helmets- Finland imported tens of thousands of helmets for the Winter War of 1939-40 and the Continuation War of 1941-44, and imported again in 1955. Since IMA acquired the last of all the known helmet stock from the Finnish government you may wonder did we get German WWII marked helmets? Yes, and they will be offered at a far higher price. Did we get other types of helmets? Yes, we also received Hungarian WWII M38 (1938) helmets as well. This deal is a treasure trove of WWII era combat helmet history. History the German & Finnish Alliance- In 1938 Finland became very concerned with Stalin’s Soviet expansionism and turned to Great Britain and France for support. Both Countries were under supplied themselves so Finland, perhaps reluctantly turned to Nazi Germany for aid. Hitler was swift to assist supplying great quantities of materiel including thousands of German Battle Helmets. The Russians invaded Finland in 1939 driving deep into the country. The Finns resisted with amazing tenacity that has been the subject of legend and the wonderful WW2 Movie “THE WINTER WAR” (offered by IMA). The Russians paid a very heavy price and sued for peace in early 1940 keeping the invaded areas of Finland. Finland totally exhausted agreed with great regret. In the summer of 1941 Hitlers Nazi War Machine invaded the Soviet Union driving everything before them. Finland whom had received so much help from Germany then rose up and drove the Soviet presence out of Finland. However Finland would not “invade” the Soviet Union, they declared themselves not to be aggressors. It is true however that the Germans recruited great numbers of Finnish “Volunteers” for their “SS UNITS” that did invade Mother Russia but that was true of all the overrun European Countries and even some others, still independent including apparently England and the United States, although these number were said to be very low. At the close of WW2 with Germany defeated Finland was highly penalized by the Soviet Union, again gave up the lost territory of 1939/40 but did manage to retain it’s independence unlike so much of Eastern Europe. WHAT YOU SEE IS NOT WHAT YOU GET! We display multiple images and write detailed descriptions of the products we sell in order to provide the customer with as much information as possible so you know what to expect when you open the box. However, most of our original antique items are not one-of-a-kind. Meaning the images you are viewing will not be the exact item that you will receive when you place your order. The images will, however, represent a typical example. In fact, the photos of products displayed on the website are never the very best examples of what we have. We make a concerted effort to photograph average examples of each product. This way, you can expect to receive an item that is at lest as good as the one photographed, unless specified otherwise. The only time you will get the exact item photographed is when an item is listed as? IMA Inc was founded by Christian Cranmer in 1981. In 2004, his son Alexander joined the business and together (with plenty of help from their magnificent staff) have grown IMA to become the world leader of the Military Collectibles, Military Antiques and the Militaria industry. We offer thousands of military antique items, including very rare original pieces spanning the past five centuries, as well as hard to find top quality new made reproductions. IMA supplied some of the world’s foremost Military Museums, Film Productions (Saving Private Ryan), Collectors, and Re-enactors. However, most IMA customers are just everyday people that happen to share our passion for history. We are an American company with European roots. Our corporate offices are located in Gillette, New Jersey, less than one hour from New York City. Thank you very much for visiting. While the majority of orders will arrive on the estimated dates some orders may be delayed for various reasons. Please allow us the opportunity to resolve problems; we understand the concern and frustration you may have and will do our very best to resolve any and all issues. We want to make it easy. You DO NOT need a Return Authorization Number (RA#). Unaltered Condition means that no restoration, painting, major cleaning, or change of any kind has occurred. The return address label provided by IMA is not pre-paid. It is only an adhesive label with our correct address. We appreciate your patience and understanding. We will resolve your issue before either option is required- that is a promise. We will notify UPS about a pending claim. (UPS rules, not ours). UPS claims can take up to four weeks, but typically are resolved sooner. We also maintain a secure database of customer addresses. If a mistake was made and IMA is responsible, we will correct it out of our cost. Add to Favorite Sellers. Sign up to Newsletter. View more great items! This listing is currently undergoing maintenance, we apologise for any inconvenience caused. The item “Original German M40 WWII Type Steel Helmet- Finnish M40/55, Size 59cm, US 7 3/8″ is in sale since Thursday, August 23, 2012. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\1954-60\Original Period Items”. The seller is “international-military-antiques” and is located in Gillette, New Jersey. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Russian federation, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Norway, Saudi arabia, Ukraine, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Dominican republic, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, Jamaica.