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Fixed bail Lt helmet


Ray42
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Last weekend I purchased what I hope is my first WW2 helmet at a local military show. I have spent some time trying to do my homework so that I would be able to recognize a good helmet but I am still no where near being an expert so I wanted to post it on here to see what others thought. It is a fixed bail with a Seaman Paper liner with OD washers. The webbing is the correct color so I do not believe that was a postwar replacement and unfortunately the chinstrap is missing and the headband is shredded which means that those can't help dating it. The Lt insignia is painted on sloppier then most examples I have seen, however it seems to show consistent wear. What do you guys think?

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Finally the name in it, looks like N. M. Artin, although it might make sense if the dot after the M was just a smudge and it was Martin. Thanks for looking.

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Captain Woody

Looks good, just wanted chime in and you know that those washers appear to be unpainted steel, especially given that the webbing for the nape strap has the early war folds on the ends.

At a glance it looks good, but closer, higher resolution photos would probably help the more experienced guys give a better opinion

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I like it, but agree with Captain Woody that better resolution photos would help. Also, I read the name as W. Martin, just based on the spacing of the letters. It looks like a nice find to me.

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Thanks, I will try to post better pictures later today.

 

Looks good, just wanted chime in and you know that those washers appear to be unpainted steel, especially given that the webbing for the nape strap has the early war folds on the ends.
At a glance it looks good, but closer, higher resolution photos would probably help the more experienced guys give a better opinion

I considered whether it used unpainted A washers. Half of them seem unpainted, however some of them seem to have the remains of some OD paint that has been wearing off so I am not sure. Is it possible that it was a transition piece that used a mix of painted and unpainted washers?

 

Also I tried posting pictures based on what others had previously provided for opinionions on helmets, but what pictures would be helpful to you and what should I provide better pictures of besides the washers?

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Captain Woody

Anything is possible, I've seen some funky mixed componant pieces such as a liner with mixed single HBT and triple HBT webbing, but I've never personally encountered different A washers in a single liner that wasn't an obvious repair. In my experience gunk and grime can make it difficult to distinguish between black or OD paint and things like that.

Ultimately, some clearer closeup pictures would be needed to refine any opinions

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I hope these help, I think my photos get decompressed and made smaller at some point either when I email them to myself or save it to my computer, however if I do it differently then the file is too large to post. I hope these turn out better and apologize if they do not.

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I was actually able to find a second set of initials that are N. M. A. so it looks like my first thought was correct and M is a middle initial, which means I now have no idea what the last name is.

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On a different subject do you guys think that I should move the remains of the headband off of the neck strap and down where it is supposed to be or leave it as I found it? I am worried it may tear the neck strap and this is the first completely intact liner I have and I would like to keep it that way. Again I am sorry if this second round of pictures is bad quality also and of no help, I dont mean to waste anyone's time. Thanks!

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Just leave it, trying to unhook the clamp will tear it more. The sweatband is already torn up so tension shouldn't be an issue. The liner looks great the way it is.

 

As for the helmet not having straps, don't say that's unfortunate. There's plenty of period photos of helmets being worn with the straps taken off. Overall the helmet looks great.

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Just leave it, trying to unhook the clamp will tear it more. The sweatband is already torn up so tension shouldn't be an issue. The liner looks great the way it is.

 

As for the helmet not having straps, don't say that's unfortunate. There's plenty of period photos of helmets being worn with the straps taken off. Overall the helmet looks great.

Thanks for the advice. Also thats the first that I have ever heard that soldiers removed the straps, Ive never seen it before but I guess maybe I had always assumed that they had been wrapped around the back and conected that way. Thats good to know.

 

P.S. I like your username I have a great uncle who served with the 175th infantry, I recently did the research and discovered he was KIA at Brest despite family stories always saying it had been Normandy.

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All my buddies who served with me in that unit know the 175th's and 29th's history and know it well. I love the 175th but more importantly thank you for your great uncles service, truly

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RememberThe5thESB

She looks good to me, by no means am I a helmet veteran if you will but I've done it for a bit now. Not everything is gonna be perfect, and we know our GIs weren't always artists. I like it!

 

Sent from my SM-J327V using Tapatalk

 

 

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On a different subject do you guys think that I should move the remains of the headband off of the neck strap and down where it is supposed to be or leave it as I found it? I am worried it may tear the neck strap and this is the first completely intact liner I have and I would like to keep it that way. Again I am sorry if this second round of pictures is bad quality also and of no help, I dont mean to waste anyone's time. Thanks!

I have two liners that have sweatbands mounted like that, and theyve both been that way forever...yeah its best to leave it all the way you see it.

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Thank you everyone for the opinions, I feel much more confident that the helmet is in fact a WW2 helmet now, especilly after learning about the early features such as folded webbing and the double loop headband. This was a good learning experience for me. Also I have been able to determine that the name is N. M. Austin, so hopefully this will be a good research opportunity.

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