Original Item: Only One Available. This is a fantastic, genuine American made Great War hand painted 81st Division "Wildcat" helmet, which features a hand painted Wildcat insignia on the front and sides.

The paint is somewhat worn, and definitely shows use, but it has a great look and the insignia are easily discernible. The underside of the rim is stamped ZC 55 indicating it was produced in the United States, and can be seen on the underside of the skirt towards the front. The solid rivets on the chin strap bales is another method of identifying the helmet as being American made.

The exterior of the helmet is painted with the insignia of the 81st Division, the Wildcats, on both sides. The letters C O L are painted around the wildcats, which were a part of their original insignia that stood for Courage, Obedience, Loyalty. It’s very scarce to find anything with this original insignia. The Wildcats were the first U.S. Division to authorize an official insignia, and soldiers were wearing these patches when they arrived overseas in France.

The helmet retains its original liner and chinstrap with little damage. The helmet is sized 6 ⅞ as stamped on the chinstrap.

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

The 81st Division was organized as a division of the United States Army in August 1917 during World War I at Camp Jackson, South Carolina. The division was originally organized with a small cadre of Regular Army, in addition to Officers Reserve Corps and National Army officers, while the soldiers were predominantly Selective Service men drawn from the southeastern states of Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. During October 1917, most of the enlisted men were transferred to other units, but additional drafts from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee replenished the strength of the division. After finishing training, the 81st Division, commanded by Major General Charles Justin Bailey, deployed to Europe, arriving on the Western Front in August 1918. Elements of the 81st Division first saw limited action by defending the St. Dié sector in September and early October. After relief of mission, the 81st Division was attached to the American First Army in preparation for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In the last days of World War I, the 81st Division attacked a portion of the German Army's defensive line on 9 November 1918, and remained engaged in combat operations until the Armistice with Germany at 1100 hours on 11 November 1918. The division sustained 461 casualties on the last day, 66 of them killed.

After the cessation of hostilities, the 81st Division remained in France until May 1919; after which the division was shipped back to the United States and inactivated on 11 June 1919.