Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a WWII U.S. Marine Corps Issue M1 Helmet as used during WWII, the Korean War, and into the early Vietnam Conflict. The shell is a mid-war WWII Produced M1 Helmet, with a front seam swivel bale made by McCord. The Helmet comes with an excellent condition Wartime manufactured First Pattern U.S. Marine Corps Reversible Camouflage Cover that is in good service-used condition with a great period stitch repair. The helmet is complete with a late WWII issue, "High Pressure" liner and leather chinstrap. The complete set is in great service-worn condition, however it does show signs of honest wear, storage age, and handling over the decades.

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 1018B. 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 rear seam and swivel bails. The chin strap is the correct late war OD Green with blacked brass stamped hardware. The shell and chinstrap are in great condition, showing normal wear related to service.

The liner is correct "high pressure" WWII issue and stamped with a W for the Westinghouse Electric Co, Manufactured in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this "high pressure" manufactured M-1 helmet liner is identified by an embossed "W" in the crown (which is still Westinghouse's logo to this day). Westinghouse was the largest M-1 helmet liner producer and had two production divisions; Micarta and Bryant Electric. The Micarta Division produced about 13,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and the Bryant Electric Division about 10,000,000. Westinghouse Electric Company started M-1 helmet liner delivery in May 1942. Westinghouse did have a contract to produce airborne liners and converted an unknown amount to airborne configuration. Westinghouse 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 completely and in really great condition, with minimal wear and age-related deterioration. The liner chin strap is in heavily worn condition but is still intact with cracks, and verdigris on the metal fittings.

The cover is the first pattern to be used during WWII which does not have the 16 foliage buttonhole slits in the top of the helmet cover, or buttonhole on each one of the “fingers”. The helmet has a non-factory applied USMC Eagle, Globe, Anchor Insignia stencil painted on the front. The practice of which is debated if it was done during WWII or not. Some believe it was done on an individual basis, or at unit level. We do know that USMC camo covers were not made with the EGA markings until after WWII.

A very nice example of a WWII issue USMC helmet, perfect for any collection! Ready to display!

The M1 Helmet
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 had 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" that this helmet has. In 1944, to deal with paint wearing off the very shiny stainless steel rim, the material was changed to manganese steel in October, and then the seam moved to the rear in November.