Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely, rare example of a 15th Separate Battalion of the US Marine Corps, painted doughboy helmet. The helmet is in lovely condition and does have a liner and partial chinstrap present. This is an immediate post-war used helmet which was also worn during WWI, more than likely by the same Marine, as they were tasked in 1919 to act as guards during voting trials of Schleswig-Holstein.
The helmet is in good condition and shows signs of heavy use and wear. “A 154” is stenciled under the brim, signifying Company A, 154th Infantry regiment, 39th division. This means the helmet was reissued to a Marine of the 15th Separate Battalion before he attended the Schleswig-Holstein trials. The heat stamp is ZA, and that combined with the solid chinstrap bales means this is an American produced helmet. The best feature of this helmet is the dark red, 3 pointed shield with an Eagle, Globe and Anchor affixed to it.

The liner is also in quite nice shape, with a very good oil cloth liner, and the top felt pad is still present, though worn. It is marked size 7 on the support strap in the middle, and still has remnants of the original top label. The chin strap is present but delicate and unfortunately broken.

Truly a fantastic example of a helmet belonging to a US Marine during the forgotten Schleswig-Holstein Expedition!

Comes more than ready for further research and display.

In the months immediately following the signing of the Armistice (on November 11, 1918 at Compiègne, France) which brought a cessation of hostilities at the end of the Great War, the Allied Powers convened in Paris (in the Salle de l'Horloge on January 18) to begin negotiating the peace terms. One of the demands of the Danish Government was that the three districts (Northern, Central and Southern) of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein be allowed to vote, through a series of plebiscites, as to whether to remain as part of Germany or to become part of Denmark.

February 21 (1919)
The Supreme Council of the Allies formally submitted the following demands of the Danish Government to the Committee on Belgium Affairs.

1. That the population of Northern Schleswig, taken as a single district, shall be admitted to vote as soon as possible, Yes or No, whether it again desires to be united with Denmark.
2. That the districts of Central Schleswig adjacent to Northern Schleswig, including the town of Flensburg, which may express the desire to do so, shall be summoned to declare by special plebiscite, voting by district, whether they desire to be united with Denmark.
3. That the conditions of the ballot shall be established by the evacuation of the regions in question by the German military forces and by the appointment of an International Commission to prepare and supervise the plebiscites.

March 19 (1919)
The Committee on Danish Affairs submitted a report to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Allied and Associated Powers which referenced "recent news from Copenhagen" that the Germans "might try to foment trouble in Schleswig after the evacuation."
May 3 (1919)

Admirals representing the Navies of the United States (Admiral Benson, Chief of Naval Operations), Great Britain and France meet at the Ministry of the Marine to review the April 30 deci sion by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Allied and Associated Powers to "adopt measures, immediately upon the signature of peace with Germany, to maintain order in Schleswig during the operation of the plebiscite," and formulate recommendations.

Upon the conclusion of this meeting, the Admirals formally offered the following recommendations:

1. The port of Flensberg should be selected as the base for the naval demonstration on the coast of Schleswig.
2. The naval force to be employed should be composed of light vessels of the three navies.
3. These small vessels could proceed at short notice to any point along the coast but would not be, by themselves. sufficient for maintaining order and could not spare any men from their crews as landing parties. It would consequently be necessary to have at hand troops ready to act. Those troops could be stationed at Flensburg, and should be conveyed there in transports.
4. It appears preferable that the troops sent should be provided equally by the three powers. They should be under the direction of the naval officer commanding the inter-allied naval forces, who would act in close co-operation with the International Commission charged with the administration of Schleswig.
5. Three or four battalions should be sufficient, if they are suitably constituted for their special police mission and were supplied with the necessary light equipment (cyclists, automatic machine guns, etc.)
6. The Admirals assume that the command of the inter-allied naval force will be decided by the Chiefs of the Governments concerned.

Rear Admiral Boyle of the Royal Navy was put in command of the inter allied naval force and submitted a request to Admiral Benson that the United States supply 800 (but not less than 600) U.S. Marines. Admiral Benson met directly with President Wilson to review and authorize the request. President Wilson authorized the transfer of 600 Marines in a memo to Admiral H.S. Knapp, Commander: U.S. Naval Forces Operating in European Waters.

The decision was made by the Commander-in-Chief that the cadre of the peace keeping force should be made up of members of the 5th Marine Brigade. In a letter to the Commanding General, Service of Supply (to which the 5th Brigade was subordinated to) dated June 2, 1919, the Chief of Staff of the A.E.F. recommended that "special care should be taken in the selection of a suitable battalion commander as he will be placed in a position of some delicacy and great responsibility." Ultimately, Major Charles F.B., Price was selected as the commander of the "Schleswig Marines." Major Price had previously been in command of the 2nd Batl. of the 11th Marine Regiment and was currently serving in the Office of the District Major (Camp Covington, Marseille, France) when he was ordered by telegram (CS-14) on June 5th to report to the Commanding General S.O.S. (Tours, France) for further instruction. At the same time, the HQ Detachment and Companies "A" & "B" of the 11th Marine Regiment and Company "E" and one (1) Machine Gun platoon of the 13th Marine Regiment were ordered to Brest to report to the Commanding General, Base Section #5. These units would represent the primary cadre of the new Provisional Marine Battalion.

June 9 (1919)
Major Price reported to the Commanding General, S.O.S. and was informed that he will take command of the Provisional Battalion which is currently being formed at Brest. He was ordered to London to report to Rear Admiral Boyle on the 15th for a conference in connection with employment of the Provisional Battalion. He left for Paris the next day and upon return (June 20) consulted with Admiral Knapp before moving on to Brest (Camp Pontanezen) to take command of the battalion. Price's first act as commander of the unit was to ask the General Staff of the S.O.S. for clarification of one of the action requests generated from his conference with Admiral Boyle. Boyle reiterated his original request that the United States supply 800 Marines (not the 600 that the President authorized). Price recommended that the total number be revised to 702 which the President re-authorized.

June 28 (1919)
The Treaty of Versailles was signed. The Schleswig plebiscites were organized in accordance with section XII, articles 109 to 114 of this peace treaty.

July 19 (1919)
USMC Commandant, Major General George Barnett sent a dispatch to Brigadier General Smedley Butler instructing him to increase the strength of the Provisional Battalion to 750 enlisted men and necessary officers. General Butler was also instructed to expedite the selection of the additional men due to Commandant Barnett's desire to have the 5th Marine Brigade embark for return to the United States on July 26. Two days later Admiral Knapp granted General Butler authority to transfer certain personnel from the 12th Replacement Battalion (11th Marine Regiment Replacement Battalion) to the Provisional Battalion.

Even with the additional personnel from the 12th Replacement Battalion. General Butler could not reach the strength levels mandated by Commandant Barnett. The logical next step was to reach out for volunteers from the thousands of Marines being transported to Brest (Camp Pontanezen) as the primary processing point on their way back to the United States.