Original Item: Only One Available. The M1917 was the US Army's first modern combat helmet, used from 1917 and during the 1920s, before being replaced by the M1917A1. The M1917A1 helmet was an updated version of the M1917 and initially used refurbished WW1 shells.

The M1917 is a near identical version of the British Mk.I steel helmet, and it is important to note that when the US joined the Great War in 1917 they were initially issued with a supply of around 400,000 British made Mk.Is, before production began state side, and this is such an example. The US-Made M1917s differed slightly in its lining detail, and exhibited US manufacture markings.

M1917 helmet liners typically show a paper label at the crown and the dome rivet head. The liner is set up as on the British versions, with an oilcloth band and net configuration, attached to a leather strap, riveted to the shell. The chinstrap is leather with steel buckle.

This fine example has been restored with new paint by a master helmet restoration expert. It is a fantastic camouflage design featuring the insignia of a Machine Gunner in the famous 91st Infantry Division known as the Wild West Division.

Helmet is missing the liner and chinstrap. It features original paint on the underside of the shell. The shell is maker marked with the stamping on the underside of the rim ZD76.

History of the 91st Infantry Division in WWI:

The Division was composed of the following units: Constituted on 5 August 1917 at Camp Lewis, Washington, near Tacoma, the division soon thereafter departed for England in the summer of 1918. In September 1918, the division's first operation was in the St. Mihiel Offensive in France. Serving under the U.S. Army's V Corps, the division fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and successfully helped to destroy the German First Guard Division and continued to smash through three successive enemy lines.

Twelve days before the end of World War I, the division, as part of the VII Corps of the French Sixth Army, helped drive the Germans east across the Escaut River. The division was awarded separate campaign streamers for its active role in the Lorraine, Meuse-Argonne and Ypres-Lys campaigns.

In 1919, the 91st was inactivated at the Presidio of San Francisco.

The Division was composed of the following units:
Headquarters, 91st Division
181st Infantry Brigade
361st Infantry Regiment
362nd Infantry Regiment
347th Machine Gun Battalion
182nd Infantry Brigade
363rd Infantry Regiment
364th Infantry Regiment
348th Machine Gun Battalion
166th Field Artillery Brigade
346th Field Artillery Regiment (75 mm)
347th Field Artillery Regiment (4.7")
348th Field Artillery Regiment (155 mm)
316th Trench Mortar Battery
348th Machine Gun Battalion
316th Engineer Regiment
316th Medical Regiment
316th Field Signal Battalion
Headquarters Troop, 91st Division
316th Train Headquarters and Military Police
316th Ammunition Train
316th Supply Train
316th Engineer Train
316th Sanitary Train
361st, 36nd, 363rd, and 364th Ambulance Companies and Field Hospitals

This is a very nice example of a genuine USGI Great War helmet from an legendary division of the US army.