What did the helmets worn on D-Day look like?

[D-Day Collector]

I know that they usually don't have paint on the rims but I am also curious as to what shade of green they were painted in. Looking through the FS colors from WW2 shows 4 green colors that all look like they could be right. I want to know because I am restoring a front seam M1 and I want it to be historically accurate to those worn on D-Day by the infantry.

[Burning Hazard]

Best would be to search original color photos taken just prior to D-Day or during the invasion and gauge on how you'd like the helmet to look.

 

Some helmets show signs of heavy use while others appear almost new, some helmets retain original factory paint while others show signs of being re-painted. 

 

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/22-remarkable-color-pictures-from-the-battlefields-of-d-day

 

Pat

[everforward]

Here is a picture of an original and unaltered M1 helmet worn at Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings, still in pristine condition.

 

It was the property of LTC Lawrence E. Meeks, CO of 3/116th Infantry, 29th ID…..on display at the 29th Division Museum in Verona, Va.

 

As nice and untouched as it is, you will find quite a few variations in how the helmets appeared and how the emblems appeared, the more you study them.

 

[bigschuss]

17 hours ago, D-Day Collector said:

I know that they usually don't have paint on the rims 

 

They don't usually have the rims painted?  Where did you get that?  

[D-Day Collector]

From looking at original photos, at least they look like the rim is bare metal from paint falling off, sorry for my bad phrasing and wording. Here are the two images where I can see what looks to be helmet rims lacking paint.

[Gear Fanatic]

How are you painting your helmet? Are you doing regular infantry? 29th, 1st, 4th, etc. or are you doing a navy NCB? Because paint job wise they would all look different. But if your going for ware, there was a lot if variation, some could have been newly issued, while others had been with some soldiers all the way through training and would have been rusty and worn, you also have to take consideration that they were mostly training coast side and the sea air helps the corrosion prices. Like most people have said already, look at original photos and find something from whatever unit you plan to do, good luck!

[Gear Fanatic]

And also, when you are weathering your rim, DO NOT just use sandpaper, it will look weird. What I do is I find some gravel and continuously rub and dig the rim into the gravel, it will give it a chipped paint look that is way more accurate and a nice small detail on a restored helmet 

[bigschuss]

5 hours ago, D-Day Collector said:

From looking at original photos, at least they look like the rim is bare metal from paint falling off, sorry for my bad phrasing and wording. Here are the two images where I can see what looks to be helmet rims lacking paint.

 

Ah, got it.  I see what you're saying.  Yes, as the others have said....there's a lot of variation.  Go for whatever look you like the best.  

[D-Day Collector]

Alright, thanks for the info. I got a front seam M1 for $40 in decent shape and wanted to make it look as accurate as possible to the photos.

[Alex Boban]

The photographs in post #5 were colorized so the colors can’t be used as reference.

There is no M1 helmet color standard for D-Day. Most of the guys had the original factory paint with various levels of wear depending on how much training they went through. Some men were ‘brand new’, freshly shipped from the states as replacements with mint helmets, others had years of service in North Africa, Italy and Sicily with helmets bearing the marks of those years of use, often repainted at least once.

 

hope this helps.

 

[aef1917]

Just "front seam" isn't gonna cut it.  It will have to have fixed loops as well.

[JohnK83882]

I found this about D-Day helmets. Might be useful. http://www.sproe.com/h/helmet-markings.html