Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an excellent original WWI British-made Mark I steel helmet attributed to Private Gasparo Biafore of Company D, 330th Machine Gun Battalion, 85th Division, who trained at Camp Custer, Michigan before serving overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces. The helmet is extensively hand-painted with Biafore’s nickname “Guy Biafore,” his machine-gun organization, Camp Custer association, and the patriotic phrase “OVER THERE.” Biafore was born in Italy before immigrating to the United States, making this a particularly interesting named artifact associated with an Italian-born American soldier serving in France during WWI.

This is an interesting instance where a British-made helmet was issued to an American soldier born in Italy and fighting Germany in France.

Biafore painted the helmet’s rim white, and added a pierced heart to the rim on one side. He painted a white circle at the dome, along with the text:

MACHINE GUN
CORP
CAMP CUSTER
“Guy Biafore”
1917-18-
OVER THERE

Guy in this case was Gasparo’s nickname, likely given to him by American boys who couldn’t pronounce his actual name. Gasparo did train at Camp Custer with Company D, 330th Machine Gun Battalion, 85th Division, otherwise known as Custer’s Division.

The heat stamp on the underside of the rim is FS 152, for manufacture by Thomas Firth & Sons Ltd of Sheffield. This along with the split pins on the chinstrap bales indicate this as a British made helmet.

The liner is also in quite nice shape, with a very good oil cloth liner, but the top felt pad is gone, revealing the rubber “donut” underneath, rare to see intact. The chin strap is intact and has some cracking but is solid overall. The leather is somewhat stained and delicate, so definitely handle with care.

Gasparo Biafore was born in Pietrafitta, Italy around 1894 and moved to the United States, settling in Hillsdale, Michigan. He was inducted into the national draft on April 28th, 1918, being assigned to the 160th Depot Brigade. On May 22nd, 1918, he was assigned to Company D, 330th Machine Gun Battalion, 85th Division. He left for France on July 27th, 1918 and arrived, seeing service in France with his unit through to the end of the war. The 85th Division did not see combat as a division, so Gasparo was likely on guard duty overseas. He returned to the States on April 8th, 1919, and was discharged on April 18th.

This helmet is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its FS 152 British Mark I shell, intact liner and chinstrap, extensive personalized paintwork, Camp Custer inscription, 330th Machine Gun Battalion association, and direct identification to Italian-born American soldier Gasparo “Guy” Biafore. The helmet reflects several overlapping elements of the American WWI experience: reliance on British equipment, the rapid expansion of the National Army, immigrant military service, and the personalized souvenirs created by soldiers to record their time overseas.