81 Years Ago Today

[Sneaky]

🇺🇸

[manayunkman]

Looks like a nice helmet.

 

Do you have a straight on shot of the letters or are they numbers?

 

Any story behind it?

[Sneaky]

2 hours ago, manayunkman said:

Looks like a nice helmet.

 

Do you have a straight on shot of the letters or are they numbers?

 

Any story behind it?

Numbers painted are “85”, most likely a rack number. No proper provenance, but it ended up in France at some point. Possibly from the Atlantic I suppose?

 

 

 

 

[manayunkman]

Very nice, what does the liner look like?

 

 

[Sneaky]

11 minutes ago, manayunkman said:

Very nice, what does the liner look like?

 

 

Thank you, liner is a later production, black brass A washer Westinghouse. Napestrap is unfinished, and the leather chinstrap is a black brass UNITED CARR example. Shell is an early 29xB (290B lot) so the liner is not the matching one issued with it, but shoes a lot of patina and naval wear consistent with the helmet. They’ve certainly been together since the war.

 

[manayunkman]

It’s a very nice set that I would be proud to own.

[Sneaky]

Just now, manayunkman said:

It’s a very nice set that I would be proud to own.

 

I hunted for an 100% WWII configuration M1 religiously for about a year before I found this one, which I was 100% confident was unmodified in any way. Likely taken as a souvenir from a vet after the war ended.

 

Paid a hefty price but it was worth it, im beyond glad to finally own a true WWII naval M1. I appreciate the kind comments

[Paddyd00]

Killer early WWII Navy. Love the Rust bleed that USN helms (and WWII German Navy Lids) exhibit. Tell tale sign they have been out to sea. Out in the rain. On deck. Running to battle stations. Sitting on a rack. Sailor clinging onto it for dear life. Nice job mate 😉

Z