Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a U.S. M1917 "Doughboy" helmet, which features original period textured paint and a painted Insignia. The helmet was originally OD Green, but it was over painted with white, for use as part of the American Expeditionary Force, Siberia, deployed to protect Allied interests during the Russian Revolution.

The shell is maker marked with a stamping on the underside of the rim that reads ZA 187. The solid rivets and heat lot number further indicate that this helmet shell was produced in the United States, and not in the UK.

The paint is in very good condition both inside and outside the helmet, with minimal rust and wear, just dirt and dust from being 100 years of age. The liner is present, and is in very good condition, with great looking oil cloth and netting. The original top tag is still partly present. Unfortunately, the entire chin strap is missing below the chin strap bales. The liner is still attached to the helmet fortunately, by the top portion of the chin strap.

The best feature of this helmet is definitely the original hand painted RUSSIA in blue paint on the top of the helmet. The Insignia maintains most of the original paint and is somewhat dirty from years of service. This is one of the various ways that the units in the AEF Siberia marked their helmets. Others seen have the 27th Infantry Divisions "Wolfhound" with an "S" in the middle.

A great example of an authentic WWI "Doughboy" helmet from the AEF in Siberia, ready to display! These are very rare, and becoming hard to find every year!

The American Expeditionary Force, Siberia (AEF in Siberia) was a formation of the United States Army involved in the Russian Civil War in Vladivostok, Russia, during the end of World War I after the October Revolution, from 1918 to 1920. The force was part of the larger Allied North Russia Intervention. As a result of this expedition early relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were poor.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's claimed objectives for sending troops to Siberia were as much diplomatic as they were military. One major reason was to rescue the 40,000 men of the Czechoslovak Legion, who were being held up by Bolshevik forces as they attempted to make their way along the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Vladivostok, and it was hoped, eventually to the Western Front. Another major reason was to protect the large quantities of military supplies and railroad rolling stock that the United States had sent to the Russian Far East in support of the Russian Empire's war efforts on the WWI Eastern Front. Equally stressed by Wilson was the need to "steady any efforts at self-government or self defense in which the Russians themselves may be willing to accept assistance." At the time, Bolshevik forces controlled only small pockets in Siberia and President Wilson wanted to make sure that neither Cossack marauders nor the Japanese military would take advantage of the unstable political environment along the strategic railroad line and in the resource-rich Siberian regions that straddled it.

Concurrently and for similar reasons, about 5,000 American soldiers were sent to Arkhangelsk (Archangel), Russia by Wilson as part of the separate Polar Bear Expedition

History of the M1917 Helmet

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. The M1917 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.