Original Item: Only One Available. Original WWII Early Fixed Bale McCord M1 Helmet, complete with liner. The helmet has been painted with unique 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division Markings.

The 116th Infantry Regiment is one of the most famous units to come out of WWII. Having participated on D-Day and through the hedgerows of Normandy to Saint Lo and beyond. The unit is still in active service today as part of the Virginia National Guard.

This helmet is an absolutely beautiful example of a McCord produced M1 Helmet. The helmet exhibits original factory paint on the exterior and interior. The Heat Lot Stamp is marked as 207C, indicating manufacture during June-July 1942, early in the war. The shell comes with its original OD Green #3 Chinstrap with Early Style Cast Brass Hardware.

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 liner is a wartime CAPAC made liner with desirable khaki suspension. The liner has its original factory paint on the exterior, showing only some scrapes and wear from light honest use. The liner is complete with its original sweatband and nape strap.

The markings on the shell include a 29th Division insignia painted on the left side of the helmet. It should be noted that the 29th emblem is bordered by an Olive Drab green circle. The left side of the helmet is painted with a “116” indicating the 116th Infantry Regiment. The markings on the helmet are old, and match the age of the helmet with both wear and patina. The question of when these markings were done remains to be answered, as we cannot find a record of a similar example. Perhaps this was a 29th Division soldier’s “one off” design. Or, quite possibly, this could possibly be from the period of the 29th Division’s period of occupation immediately following WWII. Not to cancel out alternatives, perhaps this dates to when the 116th Regiment was reactivated as a National Guard unit. Regardless, this is a REAL 29th division painted helmet, painted on an EARLY M1 Fixed Bale Helmet. This could make an ideal alternative as opposed to spending multiple thousands for an example of the 29th Division painted helmet most commonly seen.

An ideal addition to the M1 Helmet collector or WWII enthusiast!

The 116th Infantry Regiment:
The regiment was formed as part of the Virginia Militia. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots. Units in its lineage included the Confederate Stonewall Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia. It was formed under the designation of the 116th during World War I, when previously existing Virginia National Guard units were consolidated in federal service. It fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive with the 29th Infantry Division and returned to the United States in 1919, where it was demobilized. It was reformed in 1922 and called back into federal service before the American entry into World War II in March 1941. It fought in the Normandy landings, on Omaha Beach, where it suffered heavy casualties. It served continuously with the 29th Infantry Division in its eastward advance until reaching the Elbe at the end of World War II in Europe.

The regiment was inactivated in 1946 and was reformed in 1948. It was reorganized as part of the Combat Arms Regimental System in 1959, during which it became a parent regiment. Its battalions became part of the 116th Infantry Brigade in 1975. Units of the brigade have since been called into federal service for duty in Kosovo Force, for the Iraq War, and for the War in Afghanistan.