Unusual M1 Helmet found at Nashville TN Flea Market

[Tacitus]

I recently found an odd variation of an M1 helmet at the Nashville TN Flea Market. It is a front seam M1 with welded on bales, but the bales are noticeably narrower than any I have ever seen before. It also as an odd chinstrap with a buckle similar to that on an M1917A1 helmet. Instead of being sewn on to the bail, its is secured with a two piece fold down stud and washer. I can read the heat stamp and it's "346A". There is also four letters neatly stenciled on the front that were later painted over. MAAP. Though there are some rust spots, the helmet looks like it was always smooth, without the rough cork finish these helmets typically have. Everything about the helmet looks old and original, and it came from a lady who sold it very cheap and didn't have any other military items. I tried to look up what MAAP may stand for and the only thing that made sense was "Milan Army Ammunition Plant" which was established in 1942 and was located in Milan TN, which isn't too far from Nashville where the helmet was purchased. I have never seen an M1 helmet like it before, and have looked through this forum and various books without any success. I'd appreciate any helmet identifying it.

[huntssurplus]

My guess is either euro clone helmet, depot repaired helmet, or a post-war vet, surplus store, whoever fixing up an old m1 shell. Chinstraps almost look like reproductions, but it might just be the photos. Typically the chinstraps look like those of a depot repaired helmet because of the rivets holding them on to the loops instead of them being sewn on as they would come out of the factory, but the buckle on the one chinstrap looks typical of a euro clone helmet. That would of course not explain the heat stamp which should make it a US made item.

 

Here is a euro clone vs regular m1 reference topic to take a look through http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/188788-us-m-1-vs-euro-clone-helmet-components-guide/

 

However, I think it is less likely it is a euro clone.

 

I think the loops are either depot/field repair or someone messing with it post-war.

 

Hunt

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

I have questions, but no answers, very bizzare

[Tacitus]

My guess is either euro clone helmet, depot repaired helmet, or a post-war vet, surplus store, whoever fixing up an old m1 shell. Chinstraps almost look like reproductions, but it might just be the photos. Typically the chinstraps look like those of a depot repaired helmet because of the rivets holding them on to the loops instead of them being sewn on as they would come out of the factory, but the buckle on the one chinstrap looks typical of a euro clone helmet. That would of course not explain the heat stamp which should make it a US made item.

 

Here is a euro clone vs regular m1 reference topic to take a look through http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/188788-us-m-1-vs-euro-clone-helmet-components-guide/

 

However, I think it is less likely it is a euro clone.

 

I think the loops are either depot/field repair or someone messing with it post-war.

 

Hunt

 

Thanks for the quick reply. The reason I didn't think it was a depot repair is because there is absolutely no trace of any other type of bail or swivel that ever had been attached to it. I cannot imagine a depot spending the time to grind away and then polish the steel to remove all traces of the previous bail or swivel plate. Also, the heat stamp rules out it being a Euro knock-off. I do not know enough about dating the heat stamp markings, and would be interested in knowing if it is in the range of helmets made with bail type chinstraps as opposed to swivels. As for the chinstraps being replicas, the rivets look very old as do the chinstraps, and wonder why someone would have gone to the trouble to make them with the oddball hardware instead of something more typical. The helmet only cost twenty bucks so it would have been a lot of effort to 'make' this strange helmet for so very little return. I have to wonder why anyone other than a depot would make the loops so narrow when it would have been just as easy to make them like a standard bail helmet. My first thought was that it might be an early prototype M1 helmet because of how similar the chinstrap looked to an M1917A1 and the fact that it looks like it never had the textured paint job. The only problem with this though is that the heat stamp number looks to me like a typical mass produced helmet than a very early one. But on the other hand, if it were merely some kind of depot repair, I would think there would have been some traces on the shell indicating how the chinstrap was originally attached to it, and why would they use the old fashioned hardware instead of the newer type? My best guess is that maybe some helmets were completed with older parts to simply use them up, but these were not issued to the regular armed forces since they didn't meet specification, but relegated to secondary usage like defense plants where there was still some requirement for helmets. If the initials MAAP do stand for Milan Army Ammunition Depot, this might bear this out. This post has only been up for less than a day, so perhaps after more people have seen it, somebody here has seen a similar helmet and knows what it is.

[dhcoleterracina]

I thought the earliest version of the M1 had straps like this. I'm far from an expert on these.

[teufelhund]

This is definitively a Mc Cord steel pot, not an european clone.

According the steel lot number 346 A , one can be ascertain that the helmet has been made around October November December 1942

Production of these 3 months were stamped A300 to A400, so one can assume that November 1942 is the correct month of production

Cfr: M1-Helmet of the WW2 US GI by Pieter Oosterman

[Bruce Linz]

I think your helmet was indeed used at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant located in Milan, Tennessee. Milan is about 125 miles from Nashville. At one time I owned a helmet with similar markings. The letters "M A A P" were stenciled in black on the front of the helmet. The most distinctive thing about that helmet was that the chin straps were attached with rivets, just like the ones in your photo. Additionally, the helmet had it's fixed bales replaced with swivel bales. Hope this helps.

 

Semper Fi,

Bruce Linz

[Tacitus]

I think your helmet was indeed used at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant located in Milan, Tennessee. Milan is about 125 miles from Nashville. At one time I owned a helmet with similar markings. The letters "M A A P" were stenciled in black on the front of the helmet. The most distinctive thing about that helmet was that the chin straps were attached with rivets, just like the ones in your photo. Additionally, the helmet had it's fixed bales replaced with swivel bales. Hope this helps.

 

Semper Fi,

Bruce Linz

 

GREAT info, many thanks, Bruce! Could you tell from possible weld marks on the front if it originally had the same unusual narrow bales? Given that both of these had the riveted, old fashioned type chin straps, do you think that these helmets were specifically intended for 'rear echelon' type units and may have been made this way just to use up leftover old style chinstraps? Was your helmet made smooth as well, without the rough finish that most M1 helmets have? It might be useful to move this thread to the M1 helmet reference area since your helmet now confirms it is a true M1 helmet variant. Do you have any additional information that these were used at the Milan Ammunition Plant, like provenance of your helmet from a worker there, or a photograph? It just made sense to me since it was the closest match I could find for the Army Acronym of M A A P on the internet, plus the fact if was found in the same state as the ammunition plant.

 

[644td]

Very nice, that’s something one will not find everyday.

 

Marty

[Bruce Linz]

Here is the only other information I have on the helmet I sold:

 

WW2 U.S. Army M-1 helmet McCord front seam swivel bail MAAP

Here is an original, United States Army World War Two, M-1 steel combat helmet. The steel pot is a front seam McCord with swivel bales and riveted chin straps. The chinstraps are in excellent condition. The chin strap hardware is black and there is some rust on the rivets and on the tan or khaki cloth around them. I can’t quite make out the complete heat stamp numbers but it looks like “5B” to me. It is in fine condition for a used helmet and has a smooth finish. The steel pot has no stress cracks or rust. This helmet may have had fixed bales at one time that were replaced with swivel bales. The right side bales shows some small holes and weld marks where the new bail was attached. The inside of the steel pot is clean with some very light surface rust. The letters “M A A P” are stenciled in black on the front of the helmet. I believe that stands for Milan Army Ammunition Plant. The plant was located in Milan, Tennessee. This auction is for the steel pot only.

 

Sold on 24 October 2010 for $35.79

[Tacitus]

Here is the only other information I have on the helmet I sold:

 

WW2 U.S. Army M-1 helmet McCord front seam swivel bail MAAP

Here is an original, United States Army World War Two, M-1 steel combat helmet. The steel pot is a front seam McCord with swivel bales and riveted chin straps. The chinstraps are in excellent condition. The chin strap hardware is black and there is some rust on the rivets and on the tan or khaki cloth around them. I can’t quite make out the complete heat stamp numbers but it looks like “5B” to me. It is in fine condition for a used helmet and has a smooth finish. The steel pot has no stress cracks or rust. This helmet may have had fixed bales at one time that were replaced with swivel bales. The right side bales shows some small holes and weld marks where the new bail was attached. The inside of the steel pot is clean with some very light surface rust. The letters “M A A P” are stenciled in black on the front of the helmet. I believe that stands for Milan Army Ammunition Plant. The plant was located in Milan, Tennessee. This auction is for the steel pot only.

 

Sold on 24 October 2010 for $35.79

Thanks again Bruce. My helmet also shows marks on the outside caused by the high heat when the bales were applied. If you know the person who bought your helmet, I would be curious to know if the marks from the bales it previously had are also narrower than usual like on my helmet. I imagine they could have been welded by the same person! I have attached a better image that shows the M A A P letters. It looks like the lettering on mine may have been white or yellow instead of black.

[Tacitus]

This is definitively a Mc Cord steel pot, not an european clone.

According the steel lot number 346 A , one can be ascertain that the helmet has been made around October November December 1942

Production of these 3 months were stamped A300 to A400, so one can assume that November 1942 is the correct month of production

Cfr: M1-Helmet of the WW2 US GI by Pieter Oosterman

 

Thank you very much for the heat stamp details. Would it be normal for November 1942 production to be welded bales instead of the swivel bales? Have you ever seen another welded bail M-1 in which the bail wires were so narrow, and with this type of chinstrap? Two helmets of this type are now documented, and both apparently originating at a WWII ammunition plant in Tennessee!

 

[Burning Hazard]

Very interesting, I've come across these types of helmets before and couldn't figure who and when those buckles were made, thought it was either Euro clones or non-military.

 

Here's another example but painted blue:

 

http://www.johnnyg.whsites.net/hu579.html

 

Pat

[Burning Hazard]

pics

[Tacitus]

Very interesting, I've come across these types of helmets before and couldn't figure who and when those buckles were made, thought it was either Euro clones or non-military.

 

Here's another example but painted blue:

 

http://www.johnnyg.whsites.net/hu579.html

 

Pat

 

Yes, that one seems virtually identical save for the standard, rough combat helmet finish versus the smooth finish of both of the Ammunition Plant helmets from Tennessee. A friend of mine also mentioned today that he had seen one very much like yours with a rough finish that had markings indicating it was from a State Guard unit, another indication these helmets were intended for rear echelon type troops, as the blue color of this one might suggest as well (perhaps firing range personnel?) He also postulated that these helmets might have been rejected for frontline use due to some manufacturing defect so were put together with obsolete chin straps for issue to Ammunition Plant guards, State guard units, etc. that would likely not see actual combat. My helmet however does not seem to have an apparent defects, though it could be something like the hardness of the steel that we cannot see. It would be interesting to see if any of these helmets made it overseas to combat zones as well. I will have to start looking for more of these helmets in period photographs of Ammunition Plant guards, maybe POW camp guards etc. and see how many have the tell tale rivets on their chin straps to identify them as "Rear Echelon" type helmets. Perhaps we will find records that differentiate these from typical, combat worthy M1 helmets. Do you know if your helmet is McCord production? Both of the Milan Army Ammunition Plant ones were so it is likely all of this type helmet was produced by that company.

 

[teufelhund]

Very interesting, I've come across these types of helmets before and couldn't figure who and when those buckles were made, thought it was either Euro clones or non-military.

 

Here's another example but painted blue:

 

http://www.johnnyg.whsites.net/hu579.html

 

Pat

Not only the buckles but the chin straps are made in a different style and with a coarse weaving compared to the US issue.

The rivets are also an indication of european refurbishing and are typical to the french army circa 1945-1950 before the intropduction in 1951 of their own helmet and the NATO helmet mod1951.

[Tacitus]

Not only the buckles but the chin straps are made in a different style and with a coarse weaving compared to the US issue.

The rivets are also an indication of european refurbishing and are typical to the french army circa 1945-1950 before the intropduction in 1951 of their own helmet and the NATO helmet mod1951.

 

It seems hard to believe that two helmets from a WWII Ammunition Plant in Tennessee as well as at least one more with U.S. State Guard Markings also found in the U.S.A. would actually be "post war helmets refurbished for the French Army". I was stationed in Germany for over 25 years, was the Director of both the 1st and 3rd Armored Division Museums there, and must have examined literally hundreds of M1 helmets in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and though I saw plenty of French used ones too, I never saw a helmet in Europe that looked like these from the Milan Army Ammunition Plant. I would be interested in seeing images of this same type of helmet modified in France as I am sure other readers here would be as well.

 

[Cap Camouflage Pattern I]

I don't think he is referring to the sum of all modifications as french, just the riviets on the chinstrap.

[Ronnie]

Bruce is right on. These helmets turn up a good bit here in the Mid-South. They were probably modified at the Milan Army Plant. I have not seen an MAAP helmet that had sewn chinstraps. All were riveted on. Why they were modified has always been a mystery to me. But I have owned several.

Hope this helps.

Ronnie

[danejw]

Similar style chinstrap:

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/40684-maap-lt-helmet/

[Ronnie]

I just noticed that the chin straps on this MAAP helmet and the one in danejw’s post both are ten row weave.

Ronnie

[twthmoses]

On 2/8/2019 at 5:16 AM, Tacitus said:

I recently found an odd variation of an M1 helmet at the Nashville TN Flea Market. It is a front seam M1 with welded on bales, but the bales are noticeably narrower than any I have ever seen before. It also as an odd chinstrap with a buckle similar to that on an M1917A1 helmet. Instead of being sewn on to the bail, its is secured with a two piece fold down stud and washer. I can read the heat stamp and it's "346A". There is also four letters neatly stenciled on the front that were later painted over. MAAP. Though there are some rust spots, the helmet looks like it was always smooth, without the rough cork finish these helmets typically have. Everything about the helmet looks old and original, and it came from a lady who sold it very cheap and didn't have any other military items. I tried to look up what MAAP may stand for and the only thing that made sense was "Milan Army Ammunition Plant" which was established in 1942 and was located in Milan TN, which isn't too far from Nashville where the helmet was purchased. I have never seen an M1 helmet like it before, and have looked through this forum and various books without any success. I'd appreciate any helmet identifying it.

These loops looks very interesting. I think you might got the special “U” type loops here, which are describes in Watertown lab reports. Having never seen them, this definitely looks like a good candidate for them. Unfortunately, Watertown never shows a picture of them, only a cross section of the microstructure of the spot welds.

Your shell does not seem to have had another type applied before this one. They look pretty flatten as described by Watertown and the heat seems to have been strong as seen on the outside. Could be these special “U” type loops!

 

From WATERTOWN ARSENAL LABORATORY No 710/575

 

f. Microscopie Examination of Spot Welds of Special Magnetic "U" Type Chin Strap Clips

 

Helmets C1, C2, C4, and C5 were provided with special "U"
type chin strap clips made from low carbon steel wire spot welded to the
helmet bodies. They were forwarded to this arsenal for a study of the
bond between the low carbon steel and the austenitic manganese steel and
for comparson with the spot welds of the stainless steel chin strap clips
used in production.

 

Previous examination of spot velds between the stainless
steel chin strap clips and the helnets had disclosed many undesirable
features tending to produce service failures of the welds. These features
include weld porosity, interdendritic cracking in the fusion zomes, and
severe notch effects resulting from faulty design of the clip and the
method of attachment.

 

The ferritic clips were apparently welded to the helmets
with the some technique employed with the stainless steel clips normally
ussd for this application. The welds had a very unsatisfactory appearance.
Excessive pressure had evidently been exerted, resulting in the flattening
out of the ends of the ferritic clips to such an extant that they were
seriously weakened. For example, the clips on helmet 05 vere readily
broken off by grasping the rim of the helmet in the palm of the hand and
pressing inward on the clip with the thumb. In addition, either too large
a current or too long a time of application of current was used, resulting
in excessively large heat affected zones, A cursory examination of the
above factors indicates that a spot welding technique has to be carefully
developed for each material. A technique producing satisfactory spot welds
between 18-8 and Hadfield will not necessarily produce the same quality
of weld between low carbon steel and Hadfield.

 

The eight spot welds on helmets C1 end C4 were prepared for
microscopic examination. Without exception, all of the welds examined
exhibited severe fusion zone cracking. Photomicrographs shown in figures
6A, B, and C illustrate the extremely poor welds. The cracking was entirely
confined to the austenitic steel, occurring at the boundary between the
base metal and the molten pool of the weld.

 

The poor quality of these experimental velda does not ne-
cessarily prove that low carbon steel and austenitic manganese steel
have inherently poor velding characteristics when spot welded together,
but does prove that the welding technique employed was unsatisfactory.
With this in mind, spot welding experiments were initiated at this
arsenal to determine if low carbon steel can be successfully spot welded
to Hadfield manganese steel.