Item:
ONSV22WKC160

Original U.S. WWI M-1917 Helmet with 21st Engineers (Light Gauge Railway) Painted Markings-Complete

Item Description

Original Item: Only One Available. U.S. WWI M-1917 Helmet bearing original markings indicating that this helmet was once worn by a Member of the 1st Army’s 21st Engineer Regiment (Light Gauge Railway). The helmet is complete with original liner and chinstrap.

The exterior of the helmet retains almost all of its original textured olive drab paint. The one side of the helmet is painted with the insignia of the 1st Army (A red capital “A”) with a Engineer castle beneath the “A” and the number “21” within the “A”. The helmet liner is secure in the shell, but appears to have some mouse damage. The original label is still present within the crown. The chinstrap is still present, and supple, but has unfortunately broken at one time or another. The helmet shell is stamped ZE29.

This is an excellent opportunity to obtain a unit marked helmet identified to a rather obscure unit. One which would appeal to military and railroad enthusiasts alike!

21st Engineer Regiment (light gauge railway operation), organized at Camp Grant, Illinois in December 1917, moved to the port of embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey in December 1917, overseas as Army troops from December 1917 to June 1919, demobilized at Camp Devens, Massachusetts in June 1919.

The First Army was established on 10 August 1918 as a field army when sufficient American military manpower had arrived on the Western Front during the final months of World War I. The large number of troops assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) required the activation of subordinate commands. To fill this need, First Army was the first of three field armies established under the AEF. The first commander was General John J. Pershing, who also served as Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the AEF. The headquarters planned and directed the first major American offensive, the St Mihiel Offensive (September 12 to 16, 1918). It later went on to fight in the largest and deadliest battle in the United States Army's history, the Meuse–Argonne offensive. Serving in its ranks throughout World War I were many figures who later played important roles in World War II. First Army, now under Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, was inactivated on April 20th, 1919, five months after the Armistice with Germany which ended hostilities.

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