Item Description
Original Item. Only One Set Available. This is a lovely General’s lot including a gorgeous early issue Major General’s Front Seam Swivel Bale M1 Helmet by Schlueter with a Westinghouse liner, a Major General’s Military Vehicle Identification Plate, and a Lieutenant General’s Military Vehicle Identification Plate & Pennant.
In World War II the production of the M1 helmet began in June 1941 and ceased in September 1945. The total production of M-1 helmet shells during the war reached 22,000,000. Of these about 20,000,000 were produced by the main contractor McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Although McCord was supposed to be the single source of M-1 helmet shells, by the summer of 1942 a second company was enlisted to help the production effort. This was Schlueter Manufacturing of St. Louis, Missouri.
Schlueter began production of its M-1 helmet shells in January 1943. Schlueter produced only 2,000,000 M-1 helmet shells during the war (both fixed and swivel). They placed an S stamp on their helmet shells above their "heat temperature stamp”. This example has
Aside from the markings, there are some subtle differences between a McCord and Schlueter M-1 helmet shell. This can be found on the rims. A Schlueter helmet shell has a much straighter profile than the classic McCord brim.
The shell is stamped 315A over S indicating Schlueter manufacture and dating from approximately January 1944, right after the change to swivel bales. M-1 helmet shells had a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). This helmet features the correct front seam rim and late war swivel bales. The front of the helmet has two General’s stars riveted on with the rivets visible behind them.
The chin strap is the correct late war OD Green with blacked brass stamped hardware. The shell and chinstrap are in excellent condition, showing very little wear related to service.
The liner is correct high pressure WWII issue and stamped with a W for the Westinghouse Electric Co Manufactured in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this "high pressure" manufactured M-1 helmet liner is identified by an embossed "W" in the crown (which is still Westinghouse's logo to this day). Westinghouse was the largest M-1 helmet liner producer and had two production divisions; Micarta and Bryant Electric. The liner did not have its suspension replaced for the Korean War, which is common to see as not all were converted.
This true US WWII M-1 helmet liner can be identified through the frontal eyelet hole. Other correct WW2 features include cotton herringbone twill (HBT) cloth suspension. This HBT suspension is held tightly within the M-1 helmet liner by rivets and a series of triangular "A" washers. The three upper suspension bands are joined together with the correct string. This way the wearer could adjust the fit. The original leather chin strap is intact and stretched taut over the brim of the helmet. There is no name we could find across the helmet and liner.
The Major General Military vehicle identification fender plate measures 6 x 9” and is in great shape. The stars are painted on and not riveted, and the paint is very well retained with some minor loss under the left star.
The Lieutenant General Military vehicle identification fender plate also measures 6 x 9” and has riveted-on stars which are in good shape. There is some wear but nothing serious. The pennant measures 6 x 10” and is in fair condition with embroidered stars and not much damage. There is some light moth tracking but overall this is a lovely example.
This is a tremendous Korean War General’s lot, ready for further research and display.
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