Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic genuine Great War hand painted camouflage helmet, with a 41st Division Insignia painted on the front. The helmet features textured original period colored panel camouflage paint in a multitude of colors, including orange, red, blue, white, black, and yellow.

The paint is very worn, and definitely shows use, but it has a great look and the colors are still somewhat discernible, with a lovely patina. The interior of the helmet has some rust corrosion. The liner and chinstrap are gone, but both chinstrap bales are retained.

The underside of the rim is not stamped that we can find, but the solid rivet attaching the chin-strap bales confirm this is an American-made helmet.

A wonderful totally original helmet shell with genuine original paint! Ready to display!

The 41st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army National Guard composed primarily of units from the Pacific Northwest. The division saw active service in World War I and World War II, receiving the nickname “Jungleers” during the latter.

The 41st was ordered to be organized by the War Department on 18 July 1917, about three months after the American entry into World War I, from National Guard units from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington state, and Wyoming. Additional units from Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the District of Columbia were later added to complete the division. It trained at Camp Greene, North Carolina. It consisted of the 81st Infantry Brigade (161st and 162nd Infantry Regiments) and the 82nd Infantry Brigade (163rd and 164th Infantry Regiments). On 26 November 1917 the 41st Division embarked for Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), commanded by General John J. Pershing. Men of the 41st were aboard the SS Tuscania when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sunk off the coast of Northern Ireland.

In France the 41st Division received a major disappointment when it was designated a replacement division and did not go into combat as a unit. The majority of its infantry personnel went to the 1st, 2nd, 32nd and 42nd Infantry Divisions where they served throughout the war. The 147th Field Artillery Regiment was attached mostly to the 32nd Division and saw action at the Third Battle of the Aisne, the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and other areas. The 146th and 148th Regiments of the 66th Field Artillery Brigade were also attached as corps artillery units and participated in the battles of Château-Thierry, Aisne-Marne, Saint-Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensive.