Pair of Flight Helmets With a Mystery

[waltusma]

Gents,

 

I picked up these two WWII flight helmets over the weekend at an antique show in Nashville. I'm not a big aviation collector, but have been dabbling a bit recently. Initially I picked them up since I didn't have either type in my collection, but was thinking they may end up as trade items. When I got home I was looking for any sign of the owners ID in them and noticed that the B6 was marked "STARR 1721" neatly written in marker on the chinstrap and the Navy one, I'm not sure of the model, was marked "STAR" faintly in pen or pencil on the inside. I noticed a star stamped on the sewn side of the B6 chinstrap and thought that "STARR 1721" might relate to the manufacturer. When I had some time to do some research I decided to check if 1721 was the tail of a serial number. So I searched for S1721 in the laundry mark database and sure enough found a few matches. After some searching, I identified a SSG Ralph G. Starr with a matching serial number. At this point I was a bit shocked and humbled to read that he was a B24 radio operator who was killed in a mid-air collision en-route from a bombing run in Italy. I found his B24 tail number but haven't tried to get the crash report yet. Prior to last weekend I did not have any items that were identified to heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. Coincidentally, another grouping that I picked up at the same show had photos, an article, and V-Mail from two others who were also killed in action. This helmet will now hold a special place of honor in my collection.

 

So now the mystery is, could these two helmets possibly be related? As mentioned they were bought from the same seller, but in my excitement I did not think to ask him if he knew their history at all since he did not have any other military items and he was very eager to make me a good deal if I bought them both. They both exhibit similar levels of oxidation to the hardware and look like they've been sitting around flat for a while. They are both Mediums and show similar wear and scuffs on the leather but are in good shape. The B6 does have a small hole through the top right and some light reddish/brown discoloration from the top to back. Probably some sweat stains. Now I find it an odd coincidence that one is marked "STARR" and the other "STAR". Are there any photos of Air Corps personnel wearing Navy helmets? I would imagine if they were both from the same guy that they would be marked in a similar manner, neatly on the chinstrap. It is possible that both were marked "STARR" and the second R rubbed off of the Navy helmet. Of note, the other grouping I mentioned contained items from three brothers, two if whom spell their last name different from the other brother, but all have it spelled the same way on the 1940 census. It's also possible that "STARR 1721" has nothing to do with Ralph Starr, but it seems like too much of a connection to dismiss. Perhaps SSG Starr left his B6 home before deploying or sent it home as a souvineer, or maybe it went home with his personnel effects following his death. Maybe someone else happened to get issued his helmet after he wrote his name in it? I'm planning on sending away for his records to see what was sent home with personnel effects to see if the B6 is listed. I'm not a genealogy expert, but maybe someone out there can look up if he had a brother or relative that was a Navy aviator. SSG Starr was from Indiana, which isn't awfully far from Nashville, so these may have originated in his hometown. Anyway, as mentioned, I'm not an aviation gear expert so I'm open to some feedback and opinions on these two helmets. Hopefully the photos come out clear enough. Thanks for looking.

[waltusma]

The Navy helmet marked "STAR"

[waltusma]

Navy helmet

[phantomfixer]

You have two very cool flight helmets...are they related/connected? Unless photographed together, one will never know for sure...AAF and USN flyers often flew from the same field...some gear could have been swapped for sure...no telling...maybe two different flyers? One USN One AAF, maybe brothers? Maybe purchased post war by a collector or civilian flyer...

Point is you have two great WWII flight helmets..enjoy

[waltusma]

That is a good point. It could have been swapped with a Navy pilot from the same field. Agreed, not sure I'll be able to figure out this one. But they are nice helmets.