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7th Naval Beach Bn. Helmet


Grant S.
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The museum recently had donated to it this helmet, which I thought you might find interesting. The donor, Robert Barnard, was a member of the 7th NBB. He landed on Omaha beach and was quickly wounded. As he dropped his helmet flew from his head. A nearby medic grabbed him and before dragging him to safety grabbed his helmet and a liner and put them back on Mr. Barnard's head. Later Mr. Barnard discovered that the liner was not his, but belonged to a member of the 29th Division. As you can see from the pictures the helmet has the red arc in front typical of the 6th and 7th NBB, although the numeral 7 is lacking. There is a gray band around the bottom and in the back it is clear that a previous "USN" has been painted over and a new "USN" painted above it. Inside the helmet Mr. Barnard marked it twice with his name, "R J Barnard" in one case and "BARNEY" in the other. He also marked the inside "7th BB". The liner has the SSI of the 29th painted on the front, about 1 9/16" in diameter. The horizontal white bar in back is appx 7/8" high and 3 1/4" wide. The inside of the liner is unmarked. Coincidentally Mr. Barnard also donated a copy of Spearheading D-Day, which I greedily incorporated into the reference library. He had marked the section on Beach Battalions with a note sheet and interestingly, has written "1st Platoon" next to the top photo on page 230. He also included copies of photos he took of a trip to Normandy, specifically photos of a monument to the 5th ESB, of which the 6th NBB was a part, and a separate plaque to the 6th NBB dedicated 6 June 2001.

 

Needless to say I am thrilled beyond belief at having this helmet in the museum collection. Although it is still in good condition I padded and double wrapped it before putting it in the archives. My goal is to get it on display before the museum re-opens in the spring.

post-133376-0-40475800-1449773541.jpg

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Love it, and I'm glad that it's in a place where future generations will be able to see it and appreciate the sacrifices of Mr. Barnard.

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Hi

 

Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

What a truly amazing peice of history... It just goes to show the chaos that was on the beach that day.

 

Regards

 

Tom

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