Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice example of a genuine early WWII Issue U.S. Army M1 Helmet, with a white "Follow Me" Lt. Stripe on the back of the helmet shell. There is also the stripe in white paint for a 1st Lt. Rank on the front of both the shell and the liner.

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 but unfortunately cannot be read. The interior has rusted quite a bit, removing all paint and making the markings unreadable.

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 total production of M-1 helmet shells during the war reached 22,000,000. Of these about 20,000,000 were produced by the main contractor McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Although McCord was supposed to be the single source of M-1 helmet shells, by the summer of 1942 a second company was enlisted to help the production effort. This was Schlueter Manufacturing of St. Louis, Missouri. Schlueter began production of its M-1 helmet shells in January 1943. Schlueter produced only 2,000,000 M-1 helmet shells during the war (both fixed and swivel).

The early M-1 helmet shells such as this example have a set of fixed (static) 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). In October 1943, issues with the fixed bales breaking off resulted in a change to the "swivel bales".

This helmet is a fine example and still retains some, but not much of its original WWII original "corked" grain paint. The shell with front seam and swivel bails. The paint is even retained a little on the stainless steel rim, which often has flaking issues. Either this helmet sat out in the elements for years or washed up on a beach somewhere, there is a significant amount of rust, but nothing too damaging. The chin strap is the correct early war OD Green #3 with stamped brass hardware.

The correct "high pressure" style M-1 Helmet liner was manufactured by Mine Safety Appliances of Evans City, Pennsylvania, as identified by an embossed stylized MSA logo in the crown. It is also marked with mold number 25. Mine Safety Appliance started M-1 helmet liner delivery to the US Army in September 1942. They produced approximately between 2,000,000 – 4,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and discontinued production around August 17 1945 when the war ended.

This true US WWII M-1 helmet liner can be identified through the frontal eyelet hole. Other correct WWII features include cotton OD Green #3 herringbone twill (HBT) cloth suspension liner, with the webbing in very good shape. This HBT suspension is held tightly within the M-1 helmet liner by rivets and a series of triangular "A" washers. The three upper suspension bands are joined together with the correct OD green string. This way the wearer could adjust the fit. The sweatband is somewhat complete and in fair condition, with wear and age-related deterioration. The liner chin strap is not present, and there appears to be a “period” era repair to the liner rear, which looks like metal bands fixed up a crack.

A very nice genuine WWII issue helmet, with rank insignia. Ready to display!