Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a genuine WWII Front-Seam Fixed Bale M1 Helmet made by McCord Radiator, with an extremely rare Hawley pressed paper line. These liners are quite delicate, and often were replaced during the war, making them very hard to find. This liner in particular is the best example of a Hawley liner that we have ever seen.

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 heat-lot stamped 54C, a low number which indicates the approximate manufacture date of February 1942, right after the U.S. entered into WWII.

The Ordnance Department selected 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.

The early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed 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).

This helmet is a fine example and still retains all of its original WWII parts and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint with front seam and fixed bails. It shows only minor wear to the paint, with some staining and small scratches. The chin strap is the correct OD Green #3 with all brass hardware, including the cast brass buckle. Condition of the shell is quite nice, with no dents that we can see. There is also still a lot of paint on the Stainless Steel rim, which were very prone to wear. This helmet may have more paint on the stainless rim than any other we have seen.

The liner is in very good condition, which is somewhat rare, as the Hawley liners were made of paper, and unfortunately not nearly as resistant to wear as the "high-pressure" type. Often they were replaced and discarded during the war. The edge of the liner is intact, where most we see have all or part of it missing. This just has some light deformation. The rayon web suspension is present and complete, even down to the sweatband! The liner even still has the original leather chin strap, something that is rare in general. This is the best Hawley liner we have ever seen.

This is the best condition early WWII helmet with a Hawley liner that we have ever seen. If you were looking for a great one for the collection, this is it! Ready to display!

Features a RARE Hawley Liner:
The shape and characteristics of the Hawley liner were identical to those of the fiberglass counterpart. The differences were the material of construction and the absence from the front metal grommet, which is where insignia could be placed. The suspension was made of a series of rayon canvas straps. The sweatband has a leather cover. The whole assembly was riveted to the body of the liner. Small buckles were provided to adjust the suspension. However, doing so was difficult and very clumsy. The Hawley liner was issued in very small numbers during the early days of World War Two.