Original Item: Only One Available. When America was drawn into the European conflict it possessed no steel helmets of its own. They looked to other nations for ideas and selected the British helmet as the most suitable. Britain supplied about half a million helmets to the Americans before production of an American version was started in the U.S. This is a fantastic, genuine Great War hand painted 5th Infantry Division, British made helmet, complete with its original liner.

The heat stamp on the underside of the rim is HS 97. This is the typical marking where the designation of Manufacturer followed by designation of steel supplier followed by batch lot number of steel used. H is for Hadfield Ltd of Sheffield who made helmets. S is for the steel supplier of Sheffield who provided the needed material for the helmets. The heat stamp and the split rivets on the chinstrap bales are a solid indication and a good reference point for identifying British made helmets for American use during the Great War.

The helmet features a beautiful “Red Diamond” on the front. The 5th Division adopted a red diamond as its shoulder sleeve insignia. The color red was selected in honor of World War I commander John E. McMahon, who was a member of the Army's Field Artillery branch. The diamond shape was chosen in recognition of the Diamond Dyes company, a maker of fabric coloring products whose ad slogan "It Never Runs" conveyed a martial meaning during war. The shape of the diamond in the 5th Division's insignia represents strength, because in bridge construction the trusses that provide the greatest durability are mutually supporting isosceles triangles.

The paint is somewhat worn, and definitely shows use, but it has a great look and the colors are still easily discernible. The interior of the helmet has most of the original paint present. The liner and chinstrap is present and in worn condition with wear present. The liner still retains remnants of the original top felt pad but is missing the paper label.

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

The 5th Division was organized in December 1917 from Regular Army troops as a part of the program for the expansion of the armed forces for service in World War I. No specific date was designated for the division's activation, but the initial personnel assigned to the division had a reporting date of December 1, 1917.

The first general officer (Major General Charles Henry Muir) assumed command of the 5th Division on 11 December 1917, just over eight months after the American entry into World War I, at Camp Logan, near Houston, Texas and began training for deployment to the Western Front. The organization was a "square" division (i.e., there were four infantry regiments) with an authorized strength of 28, 105 personnel Doughboys of the 6th Infantry Regiment, 10th Brigade, 5th Division, stationed at Remoiville, rejoice as they receive news of the Armistice on the eleventh day of the eleventh hour of the eleventh month.

The entire division arrived in France by 1 May 1918 and components of the units were deployed into the front line. The 5th Division was the eighth of forty-two American divisions to arrive on the Western Front. The 5th Division trained with French Army units from 1 to 14 June 1918. The first soldiers of the unit to be killed in action died on 14 June of that year. Among the division's first casualties was Captain Mark W. Clark, then commanding the 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, who would later become a four-star general. On 12 September, the unit was part of a major attack that reduced the salient at St. Mihiel. The division later fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest battle fought by the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) (and the largest in the history of the U.S. Army) in World War I. The war ended soon after, on November 11, 1918. The division served in the Army of Occupation, being based in Belgium and Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg until it departed Europe. The division returned to the United States through the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 21 July 1919.