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Early fixed bail w/ hawley liner, USMC marking?


WWII_GI
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I recently picked up this early M1 helmet set, the shell has the early chinstraps and a heat stamp of 59C, the liner is a good first pattern hawley. This thing was nasty when I got it, I know the general consensus is to keep stuff as is but this one was bad. It must have sat in a garage for a long time, the exterior of the shell is rusty and the liner was filled with dirt, dead bugs, and debris. A live spider crawled out as I was looking at it. I cleaned it up with just a damp rag, and I made sure not to damage anything. One part of the webbing had pulled away from a washer so I sewed that up just to hold it for display.

 

Now here's the question, the liner and the shell both have a white diamond with a H in it and a 20 to the right of it. The shell also has the name "Billups. (MC)" Carved into the front. Its nearly impossible to see so I can't get a good picture of the name.

 

I've been told that the white diamond likely stands for First Marine Division and I'm wondering if anyone else has any insight as to what this marking might mean.

 

I found a James T. Billups in the Marine muster rolls that is listed as a Lt. in the medical corps but his the rolls also show him with the First Marine Aircraft Wing. But that would explain the (MC) after his name on the shell.

 

Thanks for looking

-Steven

 

post-104606-0-11903800-1542316844.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
stealthytyler

Yeah you are right. His name is James T Billup. Service number 107338. Born 1904 in Winters, TX and died 2008 in Texas. He was a Navy surgeon in WWII with the Medical Corps. Records show that he was attached to a Marine Air Wing.

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Yeah you are right. His name is James T Billup. Service number 107338. Born 1904 in Winters, TX and died 2008 in Texas. He was a Navy surgeon in WWII with the Medical Corps. Records show that he was attached to a Marine Air Wing.

Very neat, the helmet was found in Texas so that very well could be him, will try to do some more research. Still coming up with nothing on the diamond marking.

 

Thanks

-Steven

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