Canadian Brodie Helmet, Mk II, WW2 - Korean War era, 1942, Post-War Repaint, Mark 2, Mk2

Today we'll be taking a look at another one of the Brodie Helmets in my collection.  This helmet was spotted at a yard sale in California by mother, and picked up as a gift for me!  Way to go Mom!

Specifically, this helmet is a Canadian Military, Brodie Helmet that was used during WW2 and then repainted and refurbished after the war for use in the Korean War (at home or overseas).

Two Canadian soldiers in Korea, 1950's.

The metal shell is dated 1942 and is stamped with the makers mark of C.L./C. for the Canadian Motor Lamp Company of Windsor.  It is also stamped 60, indicating the shell size.

The metal shell is made of non-magnetic, manganese steel.  When the helmet was first produced, it was covered with a rough textured "cork paint".  Some of this texturing can still be seen in areas of the shell's exterior.  After WW2, the textured paint was no longer used.

After WW2, in 1951, the Canadian helmets were refurbished and repainted for re-issue to the troops for use during the "Korean War Era".  The original, lighter olive drab paint can be seen inside the shell in the crown area, under the liner.  The exterior of the shell and the rim, has the "new" darker green paint that was applied in 1951.   

You can see the 2 paint colors in this photo.

At the time the helmets were repainted, a new style canvas chinstrap was added that was made of two pieces of webbing and a buckle.  This new strap matched the new Model 1951 web gear. 
 http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/loadbearing/1951pattern.htm

The liner in this helmet is dated 1943, and is marked V.M.C. for the Viceroy Manufacturing Company.  It is also marked 7 for the liner size, and II indicating it is for the MkII helmet.

My helmet is missing the chinstrap and the head liner drawstring cord.  I am currently on the lookout for a correct Model 1951 chin strap.  (there is always something to hunt for!).  I will replace the drawstring with an appropriate matching "modern cord".

This helmet is quite interesting in that it was almost assuredly used during WW2 by a Canadian soldier, and then quite possibly used by another soldier in Korea!  This is one of the things I find so fascinating about these post-war refurbished items.  They have layer, upon layer, of history! 

You can follow this link over to a previous blog posting that shows my WW2 painted Canadian Helmet.  Now I have a WW2 version helmet, and a post-war version helmet!
http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/01/canadian-mk1-helmet-ww2.html

 Let's take a closer look at this helmet.  Enjoy the album:

Canadian Troops in Korea during the Korean War.

Douk-Douk Knife, Folding Slip-Joint Knife by Cognet, Antoine & Gaspard, France, French Foreign Legion

Today we'll be taking a look at another interesting folding knife that is in my collection, and often in my pocket as well!

This is a modern production knife made by the French company Cognet, Antoine and Gaspard.  It is known as a "Douk-Douk" knife.

These folding knives were designed back in 1929 as an inexpensive folding knife for the working class.  They are a very simple folding, slip-joint knife with a very strong back-spring that bias's the knife towards the open and closed positions.  In other words, it is a non-locking folder. 

The knife is very simply made, with only 6 parts total.  The blade is made of high carbon steel and can be easily sharpened to a razor edge.  The blade style is very reminiscent of the old scimitar swords.  The handle is a single piece of folded steel with a blued finish.  The spring is VERY stiff, and when the blade is opened, it drops into a very deep detent.  When open, it is very difficult to "accidentally close it" making it, for all intents and purposes, a "lock-back knife".  (This is particularly useful for my overseas friends in places like England and Germany, where lock-back and fixed blade knives can not be carried!)

This particular model is considered the "Sorcier" and has the engraving of the "Douk-Douk" on the handle.  The "Douk-Douk", is a mythical, Melanesian Spirit Incarnation.  This model was originally designed for sales to the French Colonies in Oceania.

There are three other models that had different finishes and  handle engravings for sales in other geographic areas:

El-Baraka: engraved with a Tuareg Cross of Agadez, for sales in the French Colony of Algeria. Nickel plated handle.

Tiki: engraved with a Polynesian Tiki idol, nickel plated handle.

L'Ecureuil; engraved with a squirrel, nickel plated handle and a "spear-point" blade.  This model was primarily for the French domestic market. 

These knives became very popular with the French Foreign Legion troops in North Africa, and quickly became a symbol of terror during the FLN revolt in Algeria, 1954-1962.  
These knives could easily and quickly be turned into a very effective fixed blade knife by mashing the metal handle sides together with the blade open.  This created a razor sharp, fixed blade, "dagger" that proved very popular with the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front).

Today these knives are still prized for their simplicity, ability to take and hold a razor edge, and their "old-school" classic looks.  They have been produced continuously since 1929 in France and can still be purchased from many modern vendors worldwide.  

With all that said, let's take a look at a few more photos of this wonderful knife:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bundesgrenzschutz Manöverpatronengerät for the Gewehr G1 FN-FAL rifle, Blank Firing Adapter, circa 1950's

It's been a while since I added any new postings to the blog about some of my Bundesgrenzschutz items.  Well today, I'm going "back to my roots"!
I recently found a very unique item floating around on eBay that I just had to have.  It is a mid to late, 1950's, blank firing adapter for the German FN-FAL, G1 rifle, that saw service with the Bundesgrenzschutz.

These blank firing adapters were used when blank cartridge rounds were used in the rifle.  With blank rounds, there is not enough back-pressure from the powder gasses to cycle the firearm and eject, then feed the next round.  To solve this problem, a blank firing adapter is used when firing blanks.  The adapter replaces the flash suppressor and basically blocks off the end of the barrel.  This allows the gas from the fired blank round to build up enough back pressure to cycle the rifle.  There is a small hole in the end of the blank adapter to allow the excess gas that was not used to cycle the rifle, to escape.

This particular blank firing adapter, or Manöverpatronengerät, was originally issued with the first FN-FAL rifles that saw service with the Bundesgrenzschutz in the mid 1950's.

It is generally believed that these blank adapters were manufactured by Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium, the original manufacturers of the FN-FAL or G1 Rifle, and supplied to Germany with the new-firearm shipments.  
The blank adapters were engraved with "On-Off" lettering per the German Bundesgrenzschutz  specifications.  The adapters are a "twist on-twist off" style, installed after the muzzle flash suppressor was removed.

The early adapters that were made for the BGS are all marked with the "AB-AUF" lettering.  The adapters that were issued later to the Bundeswehr did not have the lettering.

Like most NATO style blank adapters, they are painted red to show that a blank firing adapter has been installed (it would be catastrophic to soldier and rifle, to fire a live round with one of these adapters installed!).  The red paint clearly indicates that blanks are being fired and to prevent the accidental use of live rounds.


The Bundesgrenzschutz routinely practiced field maneuvers and "mock combat-police missions" with full gear and blank ammo in the field.  When they were not patrolling the border (with live ammo), these blank adapters would have been installed for all field training with the exception of live-fire range qualification.  If you look closely at the old photos of BGS field maneuvers, you will see these blank adapters installed on the rifles.

It is the little items like this blank adapter that are often overlooked by collectors, however, they played a very big role in the "day-to-day" business of the troopers.  This adapter has found a new home in my Bundesgrenzschutz collection and I couldn't be more thrilled!  

Enjoy the photo album:

Kat K55K Mercator Knife, WW2 Captured Knife, Veteran Bring-Back, D.R.G.M.

This post is an update to a previous post that I made back in 2011, about my Kat K55K Mercator pocket knives.  I had mentioned that I had learned that my uncle had an original, WW2 vintage, Kat pocket knife that was brought home by my Grandfather after his WW2 service in France and Germany. Well, the knife was passed on to me and now it has found it's way onto the blog.

Here is a link to that original post:
http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/04/mercator-pocket-knives-k55-kat.html


To get things started, here is the "short-story" behind this knife:

This knife was picked up in Germany or France by my Grandfather, William R. Spannaus, while he served with the 405th Q.M Company in Patton's 89th Division.  I am guessing that he most likely took it from a German prisoner towards the end of the war.  Some time after the war, the knife was given to my Uncle, who carried it as his "daily carry" knife as a kid.  My Uncle kept the knife all these years and passed it to me a while back.  It is now in "My Grandfather's WW2 Time" part of my greater collection.

You can read about a couple of other items he brought back at these blog links:

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/06/sg-8498-iii-bayonet-karibiner-98k.html

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/06/german-sturmabteilung-sa-dagger-ww2.html

This knife is marked "D.R.G.M.", which means Deutsches Reichs Gebrauchs Muster.  In English, this means "Protected Patent under the Reich Government".  The D.R.G.M. markings were used from 1891 until 1952.  In 1952, the patent stamping was changed to "D.B.G.M."  The "B" in the post-war patent stamping means "Bundes", or Federal, in English.

There were some interesting variations of these knives through the years that can help us date them to a particular era:

WW1 era:  "multi-tool" style, often with a corkscrew.
WW2 era:  Marked Mercator D.R.G.M, often with the single name of Mercator or Soligen.
Post-War 1953 on:  Mercator Germany, sometimes with D.B.G.M.


These Kat knives were not officially issued to German soldiers, however they were wildly popular with the German troops and most of them had a private purchased one in their pocket.  They were quite coveted by the US soldiers and many of them found their way back to the US after the war as souvenirs.

Mercator is still producing these knives for modern sale, using most of the same old equipment and in the old hand made way.  The older WW2 Kat knives were a bit larger than the currently produced knives though.  You can read more about the modern produced Kat knives in my previous blog posting.

UPDATE 6/2/2021:  I received some from Hugo, one of my blog readers, about the Mercator knives that are marked on the handle with "K55K and a Cat".  The question has been floating around, and un-answered for quite some time, as to the age of the knives marked on the handle side with the "Cat".  The question was sent to Otter -Messer, the makers of the Mercator knives in Germany. It appears that these K55K marked knives were produced after the end of WW2, with a slim possibility of production at the very end of the war.  Here is the response from Otter-Messer. 

" Hello Hugo,

Unfortunately, we can no longer really trace when exactly the cat embossing with the K55K was put on the Mercator, too many papers have simply been lost.
But it must have been immediately before the end of WW2 or at the end of WW2, as the "Black Cat Knife" was a popular souvenir with the American GIs.

Best regards,

OTTER-MESSER GMBH  "

Here is the photo album of this knife.  I have taken most of the photos side-by-side with a modern version of the Kat knife for comparison.  The WW2 knife is all bare metal finish and the new Kat knife has the black paint.  Originally the WW2 version would have had black paint as well, however it has all worn off.