Untouched Japanese Navy Combat Helmet with Cover and Net / Palm

An extraordinary World War II Japanese Navy combat helmet that is complete with the first pattern cloth cover and its camouflage net. The helmet has been completely untouched since it was brought home at the end of the war by an American soldier as a souvenir. The Japanese Marine who wore this helmet placed palm fronds along the lower edge of the helmet, on top of the cloth cover and beneath the net, and those fronds still remain in place. The net is intact and is clearly impressed into the cloth cover. The cover, not surprisingly, exhibits some stains but it, too, is intact. The cloth Imperial Japanese Navy insignia is on the front of the cover. There are a few small spots on the edge of the helmet where the first pattern cover has worn through, and the known tendency of this to happen with the first pattern covers is probably what caused the Japanese Marine who wore the helmet to reinforce the area of the edge with the palm fronds. It is impossible to determine the extent of the paint on the helmet shell because the cover and the net that are on the helmet have so obviously been on the helmet since the war that removing them, or even attempting to remove them, would damage the historical integrity of the helmet. However, the metal Navy helmet insignia can be felt beneath the cover. The interior leather liner of the helmet shows wear that is completely consistent with the helmet having been worn in combat and it is entirely matching with the wear and use on the helmet as a whole. The cloth chin straps are also present and they still remain tied together, just as they were when the helmet was used by the Japanese Marine who last wore it.
This is, without question, one of the most impressive, complete, and untouched, World War II Japanese combat helmets to have ever appeared on this site. The fact that it is a Navy combat helmet just makes it all the more exceptional, and this helmet would be the highlight of any collection of Japanese militaria or of military combat helmets.