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M1C Late WW2 helmet


Pbaczuk
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I picked this up in my home town this week. It is a stainless rear seam M1C with sewn OD green chinstraps. It looks like a McCord. I think this was made in early 45. or so.

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Jim McCauley

Lot # 67. ..maybe 167. The 1 is a probable

 

Thank you.

 

Most likely 1167. That range fits into this type of helmet. Often the 11 at the beginning of the number is a lighter strike.

 

Best regards.

 

Jim

 

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Off the top of my head, January to February 1945. That would be best guess based on current observation and thought. Until the lot number lists can be found in the McCord archives it's just a educated guess.

 

Best regards.

 

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...

How hard are front seam stainless steel M1C’s to find? Does anyone know a rough date of when they would have been manufactured? I would imagine they would have been able to See some action in late 1944-1945?

 

 

 

 

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Burning Hazard

How hard are front seam stainless steel M1C’s to find? Does anyone know a rough date of when they would have been manufactured? I would imagine they would have been able to See some action in late 1944-1945?

 

 

 

Although manufactured during WWII, there's no photographic evidence of M1C shells being used in theater during the war. The best theory is that, in 1945, all airborne helmets were being hoarded by the war department for an upcoming airborne invasion of Japan. There was such a shortage of airborne liners that riggers modified regular infantry liners into airborne configuration (also no evidence of rigger liners being used in WWII).

 

After WWII, M1C shells and rigger liners saw extensive usage in the late 50's to Vietnam War; a lot of collectors who own M1C shells and rigger liners say they're usually marked with post-war serial numbers.

 

Still a nice M1C shell, I used to own one but eventually sold it.

 

Pat

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Although manufactured during WWII, there's no photographic evidence of M1C shells being used in theater during the war. The best theory is that, in 1945, all airborne helmets were being hoarded by the war department for an upcoming airborne invasion of Japan. There was such a shortage of airborne liners that riggers modified regular infantry liners into airborne configuration (also no evidence of rigger liners being used in WWII).

 

After WWII, M1C shells and rigger liners saw extensive usage in the late 50's to Vietnam War; a lot of collectors who own M1C shells and rigger liners say they're usually marked with post-war serial numbers.

 

Still a nice M1C shell, I used to own one but eventually sold it.

 

Pat

Very interesting, thank you for the information.

 

 

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The best theory is that, in 1945, all airborne helmets were being hoarded by the war department for an upcoming airborne invasion of Japan.

 

That's an interesting theory, but not one that is supported by documentation. 392,000 M1-C helmets were produced by McCord between January and April 1945, at which point production was terminated for the duration of the war. On January 26, 1945, the Office of the Quartermaster General granted authority to issue M1-C helmets on the basis of "1 per individual of Parachute, Airborne and Glider units and Glider Pilots". Stocks of M1-C helmets were held at the Atlanta Army Service Forces Depot for issue in the continental US and for shipment through east coast ports of embarkation, and at the Utah ASF Depot for west coast ports of embarkation. At the same time, supply to Theaters of Operations had been undertaken following the standard procedure for the supply of newly standardized equipment to overseas commands.

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That's an interesting theory, but not one that is supported by documentation.  392,000 M1-C helmets were produced by McCord between January and April 1945, at which point production was terminated for the duration of the war.  On January 26, 1945, the Office of the Quartermaster General granted authority to issue M1-C helmets on the basis of "1 per individual of Parachute, Airborne and Glider units and Glider Pilots".  Stocks of M1-C helmets were held at the Atlanta Army Service Forces Depot for issue in the continental US and for shipment through east coast ports of embarkation, and at the Utah ASF Depot for west coast ports of embarkation.  At the same time, supply to Theaters of Operations had been undertaken following the standard procedure for the supply of newly standardized equipment to overseas commands.

So your saying at the very least, the front seam stainless steel M1C could have went over seas in 1945?

 

 

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So your saying at the very least, the front seam stainless steel M1C "could" have went over seas in 1945?

 

I think you "could" be trying to put words in Ian's mouth.
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I think you "could" be trying to put words in Ian's mouth.

“On January 26, 1945, the Office of the Quartermaster General granted authority to issue M1-C helmets on the basis of "1 per individual of Parachute, Airborne and Glider units and Glider Pilots". 

Just trying to get a good idea on the time frame of the M1C. Maybe I am misinterpreting what he is saying as I am not fluent in this field nor did I do well in the verbal reasoning section on my aptitude test back in grade school. However it seems like he is saying they were granted permission to issue M1C helmets in January of 1945.

 

 

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On January 26, 1945, the Office of the Quartermaster General granted authority to issue M1-C helmets on the basis of "1 per individual of Parachute, Airborne and Glider units and Glider Pilots".

Just trying to get a good idea on the time frame of the M1C. Maybe I am misinterpreting what he is saying as I am not fluent in this field nor did I do well in the verbal reasoning section on my aptitude test back in grade school. However it seems like he is saying they were granted permission to issue M1C helmets in January of 1945.

 

 

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What he said was permission was given to "ship" to east coast and west coast embarkation depots and ports. Now, did they actually leave the continental U.S. before the end of hostilities? That is the question that I don't think is answered here.
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Please excuse my ignorance: if the M1C was not used during WW2. What version did parachutists use?

Regular M1 helmets with Inland or Westinghouse liners. Fixed loop or swivel

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Burning Hazard

And the chinstraps on M1 helmets were the standard length? No extension with snap?

 

Yes, they were typically regular infantry straps but some fixed bails had M2 D-bail chinstraps (nickel snaps) re-sewn by riggers, these are pretty rare. No extended snaps meant no attachment of liner to shell, you can see period footage of paratroopers using tape or leather liner chinstrap to secure their liners. Heck, I was watching some footage recently of 11th airborne and some of these guys appeared to jump with infantry shells and liners, no A-yokes visible!

 

Pat

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