Italian M33 steel helmet recovered from Italian alpini division positions in the Dom river area outside Stalingrad

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Italian M33 steel helmet recovered from  Italian alpini division positions in the Dom river area outside Stalingrad - from the November - December 1942 - 1943 battles .

The helmet has been cleaned of surface rust and is in solid condition. Multiple stress fractures in the metal - makes an interesting display piece for any relic collection!

In July 1942, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini decided to scale up the Italian effort in the Soviet Union, the existing CSIR was expanded to become the ARMIR. Unlike the "mobile" CSIR which it replaced, the ARMIR was primarily an infantry army. A good portion of the ARMIR was made up of mountain troops (Alpini), which were ill-suited to the vast, flat expanses of southern Russia.

Like the CSIR, the ARMIR included an Aviation Command (Comando Aereo) with a limited number of fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft. This command was part of the Regia Aeronautica (lit. "Royal Air Force") and was also known as the Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia ("Air Expeditionary Corps in Russia"), under the command of General Enrico Pezzi. The ARMIR was subordinated to German Army Group B (Heeresgruppe B) commanded by General Maximilian von Weichs. In February 1943, after its near destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad, Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Italian 8th Army and the surviving Italian troops were unceremoniously brought home from Russia.

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