German M42 Helmet

German M42 Helmet Relic Condition

M42 German helmet ,worn by a German soldier of the 9th Panzer division , this was recovered from the river Rhine near Bad Honnef.

This was the 11th March 1945 and the Germans were on the counter attack against the Americans to re-capture the Ludendrorff Bridge in Remagen .

The helmet is obviously in relic condition as can be seen from photo’s.

German M42 Helmet Relic Condition

The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Wehrkreis XVII.

Originally raised from Austrian forces annexed into Germany before the war, the 9th Panzer Division was part of most of the German Army’s early Blitzkrieg attacks into western Europe. Sweeping east, the division was then a component of Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union; it was badly mauled at the Battle of Kursk.

Returning to France to rebuild in 1944, the division was rushed to counter Operation Overlord. It was destroyed several successive times by British and American forces as the German Army was pushed back across Europe. The division suffered massive casualties in armor and personnel until it finally collapsed in March 1945. The division’s few survivors were pushed into the Ruhr Pocket where they surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war.

n 1942, the division was organized around three regiments. Its tanks were organized into the 33rd Panzer Regiment, which was supported by two regiments of panzergrenadiers, or mechanized infantry. These were the 10th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and the 11th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. Also assigned to the division were the 102nd Panzer Artillery Regiment, the 9th Motorcycle Battalion, the 9th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, the 50th Panzer Jager Battalion, the 86th Panzer Pionier Battalion, the 81st Panzer Signal Battalion, the 287th Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion, and the 60th Panzer Divisional Supply Troops.^[1]