Original U.S. WWII 1943 Medic M1 McCord Front Seam Fixed Bale Helmet with Scarce Matching Hawley Paper Liner - Medical Tape Used for Insignia
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Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is an incredible helmet and piece of history. It is not very often that you come across a genuine WWII issued Medic Helmet, let alone one that has medical tape utilized to create the Red Cross insignia on both sides and on the front of the liner. The helmet is in great condition but has had a reproduction liner chinstrap added, which can be easily replaced with a real one. This helmet also has a very scarce Hawley Paper liner which is matching as the same medical tape insignia is on the front.
This helmet is a fine complete example and still retains almost all of its original WW2 parts (shell chinstrap, sweatband, nape strap etc.) and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint with two square Red Cross insignia on the sides and a single piece of medical tape along the helmet vertically. The liner chinstrap is a reproduction as mentioned, but the shell chinstrap is original.
The U.S. WWII M-1 helmet was only produced from 1941 to 1945. The first production batch resulted with over 323,510 M-1 helmets before the start of the American involvement in the war. This helmet is stamped 558C which indicates the approximate manufacture date of June 1943, soon after the U.S. entered into WWII.
The Ordnance Department elected McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit Michigan to produce the steel M1 helmet bodies. These bodies were made from a single piece of Hadfield Manganese steel that was produced by the Carnegie-Illinois & Sharon Steel Corporations. Each completed raw M-1 helmet shell weighed 2.25 lbs each.
This is an early M-1 helmet with a set of fixed (non-movable) chinstrap loops called bales and a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass).
The liner of this example is an extremely scarce Hawley Paper liner. Due to this, they were not nearly as resistant to wear as the "high-pressure" type. It has some extensive tearing and material loss along the rim. The rigging is in fair shape but as mentioned the liner chinstrap is reproduction. The web suspension is also in very nice shape, complete with the inner suspension and sweatband. The leather on the sweat band is in good shape, especially considering the age. The exterior is in good shape and the same medical tape insignia is on the front of the liner.
On any World War II battlefield, you could find thousands of men trained and ready to do one thing, fight. For roughly every 500 fighting men, there would be 30 or less trained and ready to do an entirely different mission: save lives. These were the battlefield medics.
WW2 Medic helmets are among the most sought after of all M1 helmets and have become increasingly difficult to find in recent years. Value increases yearly, don’t miss your chance on this one!
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