Original Item. Only One Available. This is an excellent original U.S. WWI M1917 “Doughboy” helmet retaining its period olive drab finish, complete liner and chinstrap, and hand-painted 89th Division insignia on both sides of the shell. The painted markings incorporate the distinctive “Rolling W” of the 89th Division with a red center bordered in white, a combination identified with the 314th Engineer Regiment. The helmet is additionally marked F.F. / Co. C, with research indicating a likely identification to Private Fred Field of Company C, 314th Engineers, 89th Division.

The paint is in very good condition both inside and outside the helmet, with the expected wear from service. The liner is present, and is in very good condition, with great looking oilcloth and netting. The chin strap is still retained and in very solid condition, with what looks like a British broad arrow carved into it.

The best feature of this helmet is definitely the original hand painted 89th Division - The Rolling W emblem on both the left and right sides of the helmet. The Division Insignia maintains most of the original paint and is somewhat dirty from years of service. It is a nice black circle with a "W" inside, the central portion being painted red with a white border. Each unit of the 89th Division was further identified by colored inserts, paint being this example, identifying the individual unit. Red with a white border is the color combination for the 314th Engineer Regiment, the divisional Engineer unit of the 89th. The 314th saw heavy combat in the Lucey Sector, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives, and the Euvezin Sector.

The front of the helmet has the initials F.F carved into the sandy finish, a nice detail.

Fred Field was from Emporia, Kansas, born August 17th, 1897. His full name was Fred Eiching Field, but he only used the name “Fred Field” in the Army, so we are confident that this helmet belonged to him. He passed away on April 15th, 1950 in Topeka.

The 89th Division was organized at Camp Funston, Kansas in 1917 and entered overseas service with the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918. The division participated in the St. Mihiel Offensive and later fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, two of the principal American operations of WWI. The 314th Engineers supported these operations by preparing defensive works, improving routes of advance, maintaining roads, and repairing or constructing bridges as the division moved forward.

Unit color combinations within the divisional insignia provided an additional means of identifying particular organizations within the division, making well-preserved examples such as this especially useful for studying the visual identification system used by the AEF.

The M1917 was the first modern steel combat helmet adopted in quantity by the United States Army. When American forces entered WWI in 1917, substantial numbers of British Mk I helmets were initially obtained for U.S. troops while American production was established. The resulting American M1917 closely followed the British pattern but incorporated differences in manufacture, markings, liner details, and hardware.

The M1917 liner used an oilcloth sweatband and supporting net arrangement secured beneath the crown, together with a leather chinstrap and metal buckle. This helmet retains all of these important interior components.

The combination of the bilateral 89th Division insignia, 314th Engineer Regiment color arrangement, F.F. / Co. C identification, complete liner and chinstrap, and well-preserved original finish makes this an especially interesting surviving AEF helmet. The inscriptions provide a promising avenue for establishing the original wearer, while the painted divisional markings firmly place the helmet within the history of the 89th Division and its WWI service.