Original Item: Only One Available. This is an exceptional original U.S. Marine Corps World War I British-manufactured Mk I steel helmet associated by its painted insignia with Headquarters Company, 5th Marines, 4th Marine Brigade, 2nd Division. It retains a period-style Eagle, Globe and Anchor device mounted through the front of the shell, a hand-painted 2nd Division star-and-Indian-head insignia over the distinctive black square of 5th Marines Headquarters Company, and much of its original but now extremely delicate liner and chinstrap assembly.

This example was likely issued to the Marine in late 1917. The 5th Regiment were of the first marines to arrive in June 1917, and saw some of the worst combat of any unit in the AEF. The original liner is intact however the material is extremely worn and now delicate, with the oilcloth tearing without much pressure. The original chinstrap is mostly present but broken as shown. The rubber donut is present at the interior crown but it is stiff, and its wool covering is gone.

The underside of the rim is stamped HS 96, indicating that the shell is one of the 400,000 British manufactured helmets supplied to the U.S. at their entrance into the war. The split pin rivets attaching the chin-strap bales further confirm this. "HS" is the marking used by Hadfield Ltd of Sheffield, the company that invented the "Hadfield Steel" that these helmets are made of.

The outer shell still has some remnants of original paint. There is some dirt and rust on the shell, which we left in place to preserve the patina. There also are a few small dents on the crown of the shell.

The EGA (Eagle, Globe, Anchor) insignia on this helmet can be identified as a World War I Era EGA by its use of both latitude and longitude lines on the Globe, while later EGAs would only use latitude lines.

The best feature of this helmet however is definitely the original hand painted HQ Company 5th Marine Regiment, 2nd Division - Indianhead Division emblem in the center of the front of the helmet. Marines under this division used specific colors and shapes behind the "Indianhead" to designate which unit they were in, and the "black square" indicates the Headquarters Company of the 5th Marine Regiment, part of the 4th Marine Brigade. The Unit Insignia maintains almost all of the original paint, around 90%, and remains bold and easy to see, one of the nicest and most well-preserved insignia we have seen.

The Headquarters Company, 5th Marines, along with the rest of the 5th Marine Regiment, was first organized on June 8, 1917, as the United States prepared for World War I. Six days later, manned by Spanish–American War and Boxer Rebellion veterans along with a large number of raw recruits, they set sail for France. They participated in campaigns and battles such as Bois de Belleau, Vierzy, Château-Thierry, Pont-a-Mousson, Limey Sector, Fleury, Meuse-Argonne, Blanc Mont, St Michiel, Leffincourt and Soissons. The French Government recognized the regiment by presenting it the Croix de Guerre along with the Fourragère and changing the name of a French landmark, Belleau Wood, to "Bois de la Brigade de Marine" or "Wood of the Marine Brigade".

The U.S. Marine Corps did not field divisional size units during WWI, so they were made part of the divisions of the U.S. Army. In fact, the entire 2nd Division was for a time during WWI commanded by U.S.M.C. Major General John A. Lejeune himself! To find a 2nd Division USMC Helmet which is a British shell means that it was one of the very first helmets issued to the U.S. Troops in France, meaning this was almost certainly worn by one of the first marines to arrive in France in June 1917, and was almost certainly worn at the Battle of Belleau Wood, the most prolific battle in Marine Corps history.

On top of this, helmets painted to Headquarters Companies are much more scarce than those of battalions, as only one company of men would have painted their helmets in this color, compared to the four companies of a battalion. It cannot be overstated how scarce this helmet is, likely being one of only 250-350 painted in this exact configuration.

The liner and chinstrap are extremely delicate but are still somewhat intact, a rarity.

The combination of the HS 96 British Hadfield shell, split-rivet bale construction, surviving original liner and chinstrap components, period-style Marine Corps EGA, and strongly preserved black-square 5th Marines Headquarters Company Indian-head insignia makes this an exceptionally significant World War I Marine Corps helmet.