Original Items: One of a Kind USGI Bring Back Set. This is a fantastic USGI bring back set, with history reaching all the way back to "The Great War"! The centerpiece of this set is a WWII Issue steel construction Austrian M17 helmet, which were made to supplement the 416,000 German helmets from November 1916 until the end of the war. The design is very similar to the M16, except that they came with a cloth chinstrap and had the chinstrap rivet located higher up on the steel shell. From May 1917 till the end of World War I 534,013 were produced, many of which were manufactured at the Krupp plant in Berndorf, Lower Austria.

After WWI, it was put into storage along with many other helmets, which were no longer needed for the much reduced size of the German and Austrian militaries. After the NSDAP takeover, when Germany began rearmament, these helmets were refinished and issued for various functions before the new designs were introduced. We usually see these reissued for military use, but this helmet was instead outfitted for Reich Luftschutz Bund (RLB) Civil Air Defense use. The original Isonzo Braun finish was replaced with the correct early war Apfelgrün (Apple Green) paint and an RLB Emblem decal on the front of the helmet. The RLB officially only were issued these helmets 1934 to 1938, when the M-38 "Gladiator" helmet came into use, and a new "Luftschutz" decal was designed.

The helmet most likely saw long use with Air Raid defense services during the war, resulting in wear to the paint and M17 style liner, which could possibly be the original liner from WWI. At this point, it was was captured by a USGI, who then turned it into a fantastic "Travel Diary" or "Combat Chronicle" display piece, listing the locations where they visited during their service in decorative "Gothic" letters. Even better, they added some great artistic decorations, and even signed it with their name and unit information on the rear left of the helmet:

1.st Lt. E. Nelson
318th Inf. 80th Div.

The front of the helmet on the front brim was decorated with the insignia of the 80th Infantry division: a shield with "Blue Ridge" mountains inside, the nickname of the division. A bayonet was painted on the RLB decal in the front, piercing it, and on the rear of the helmet is a fantastic caricature of NSDAP leader Adolf H being punched by a fist with (US) 318th INF on the nose, with red blood dripping out down the back of the rear skirt. All around the helmet is the travel diary, listed as follows in what we believe is the correct chronological order:-

Argentan
Moselle R.
Seille R.
Delme Ridge
Saint-Avold
Assenois
Ettelbruck
Siegfried Line
Kassel
Erfurt
Inn R.
Liberation of Ebensee

The outside of the helmet does show wear since it was decorated, and it looks like a coating of protective clear lacquer was added to help preserve it at some point after the war, a very common thing for collectors to do.

There is no maker or size marking stamped on the shell, however this is typical for Austro-Hungarian M17 helmets, as many of the makers used only ink stamps, easily painted over. We did not see any rolling mill marking on the inside of the helmet, however the top exterior is stamped with L 1 5 0, the correct location for most Austrian makers. We measured the outside of this helmet, and it is definitely in size 64cm. This is a nice medium size that would usually accommodate size 56 to 57 hat sizes, which is 7 to 7 1/8 in U.S. sizes. The helmet still has the correct longer vent hole lugs with steps, for attachment of a "stirnpanzer" helmet plate, confirming the medium size.

Included with the helmet is a letter from Robert Shea to Edward Nelson, as well as a picture, which come in the original envelope. This has a JAN 1944 postmark, and the following return address:

a/C Robert J Shea
74th AAFFTD - Class 44F
Chester, Illinois

It is addressed to:

Lieut Edward A. Nelson
Co. H 318th Inf.
A.P.O. #80 % Postmaster
Los Angeles, California

The paper used for the letter bears HAMMERMILL BOND watermarks, and has the following letterhead:

74th A. A. F. F. T. D.
CHESTER FIELD
McBRIDE, MISSOURI

The base is right on border with Illinois, which is why the letterhead is from Missouri, but the address and post office are in Illinois. The letter is relatively easy to read, and talks about what life is like during training. The 3 3/4" x 2 5/8" photo has a note from Bob on the back, indicating that he is in the middle, and says that "It's two bad you haven't got outfits like these to wear at night in the desert." We can see that there are icicles on the roof behind them, so it must have been taken around the time the letter was mailed. The "desert" being referred to in this case is the "Desert Training Center" where the 80th Division was under training, in the deserts of Arizona and Southern California. The division would go overseas at the beginning of July 1944, arriving at Utah Beach on August 5, 1944. They then took part in the Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns.

This is really a fantastic offering here, the likes of which we do not get to see very often, if at all. There are many "Travel Diary" and "Combat Chronicle" helmets out there, but finding one with real provenance and even a personal letter does not happen often. This is sure to be a welcome addition to any WWII collection. Ready to research and display!

The first "modern" steel helmets were introduced by the French army in early 1915 and were shortly followed by the British army later that year. With plans on the drawing board, experimental helmets in the field, ("Gaede" helmet), and some captured French and British helmets the German army began tests for their own steel helmet at the Kummersdorf Proving Grounds in November, and in the field in December 1915. An acceptable pattern was developed and approved and production began at Eisen-und Hüttenwerke, AG Thale/Harz, in the spring of 1916. These first modern M16 helmets evolved into the M18 helmets by the end of WWI. At the end of WWI it is estimated that Germany had produced about 8,500,000 steel helmets. As a result of the restrictions placed on the German’s by the Treaty of Versailles, which dictated a standing army of only 100,000 personnel, there was an abundant surplus of these helmets, and though they saw widespread use by Freikorps personnel, there was still a stockpile controlled by the Reichswehr.

These excess helmets underwent minor modifications in 1923 with the addition of provincial identifying shield decals and in 1931 with the development of a new chinstrap and liner system. Although helmet development was ongoing when AH came to power in 1933, the M16 and M18 helmets were still the main headgear worn by the Reichswehr. The helmets remained the same until March 1933 when the provincial shields were discontinued in favor of the national tri-color shield. In 1934 the national eagle shield was introduced, and both the tri-color and eagle shields were applied to the helmets. After the development of the new M35 helmet, the WWI helmets were still issued to second line and training troops well into WWII. The Austrian M16 was almost identical to the German version with the positioning of the chinstrap liner rivets being the most readily identifiable difference.

Austro-Hungarian Helmets

The Central Powers of Austria-Hungary used, manufactured and commissioned, variations of the World War One German Stahlhelm M16 design. The Austrian M1917 helmet was similar to the German M1916, but had a few variations including the chinstrap, chinstrap rivets located higher up on the steel shell and variations in locations of markings among others.

Early Austrian helmets were supplied by Germany, the first shells supplied as the chinstrap rivets were mounted in a lower position. The Austrians fitted their own chinstrap bales, chinstraps and liner and painted them in Austrian Isonzo braun. These modifications were carried out with German machinery at the "Adolf Westen di Cilli factory, which is now Celije, in Slovenia.

Later Austria-Hungary made their own helmets, and eventually developed a model similar to the German M18, but it did not see wide use before the end of the war, just as with German's M18. Both were an an important stepping stone towards the German helmets of WWII, which moved to chin straps attached to the liner, not the shell.

Austro-Hungarian WWI Helmets Makers-

There are only 9 known factories that produced helmets during WWI for the KUK. Unlike the Germans the Austrian pattern helmet are often found without factory stamps and heating lot codes. When the heating lot codes are present it is often on the outer top dome of the helmet instead of the inside. The following is a table of Manufactures codes of helmets produced by the Austrians. Several of these makers did not stamp the code into the shell of the helmet but rather marked them with an ink stamp. Therefore many Austrian shells will be encountered today that seem to have no maker mark as the ink stamp has worn off, but most will have rolling mill codes.

Maker Name Factory Location Maker code Sizes Model

A. Westen Cilli Celie, Slovenia AW 64 M17

Brüder Gottlieb u. Brauchbar Brunn BGB 66 M17

C. A. Scholtz,Mateocz Sloeakei CAS 66 M17

Berndorfer Metal-Warenfabrik Berndorf, Austria "Bear" logo 66,64

Bruder Lapp, Rottenman u. Warcholowsky Unknown ? M17

Nadrag,Transilvania Transylvania Unknown ? M17

Resicka, Transylvania Transylvania Unknown ? M17

Bleckmann & Poldihutte Klando Boemia Unknown x Stirnpanzer

Gebruder Bohler & Co., Kapfen Austria, Stiria GB "Star" 66 M17

Rolling Mills Marker Code

Ludwikow L

Bleckmann B

Poldi P