Rare M-1917 WWI Unit Insignia Painted Helmet

[swmdo]

I've been finding a lot of M-1917 Helmets in my AOR lately. I'm thinking we are losing the WWII Generation and these were thier fathers helmets. When they move on the generation that inherits these helmets are 2-3 generations removed and are not emotionally connected? Or maybe the economy is causing people to sell family items. We may start to see more of these helmets come available over the next ten years. :think: I'd be interested to see any other painted 79th division helmets, as this is the first I've seen. It makes sense where I found this helmet as I'm east of the Potomoc near Fort Meade where this unit was formed and trained in 1918. This does not look like the exact insignia in Chris Armold's book Painted Steel II. Maybe he will post this helmet in a future edition of his book....

 

 

 

[swmdo]

I was looking at some of my earlier stuff and was happy to find that PVT George A. Evans served in the 79th division, Company B 313th Infantry. I picked this up at an estate sale last year. So I now have a start on a 79th related collection. I wonder if he came back as they saw action in the Argonne.

 

 

 

Here is also some history on the 79th.

Seventy-ninth, 79th Division (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C.) (National Army)

Source No. 2: 79th Division - Southern Pennsylvania. Trained at Camp Meade in Annapolis Junction, Md.

Nickname: Lorraine Division

313th, 314th, 315th, 316th Infantry (Inf.)

310th, 311th, 312th Artillery (Art.)

310th, 311th, 312th Machine Gun (M. G.)

304th Engineers (Eng.)

Major General Commanding: J. E. Kuhn.

Engaged: Argonne

[aef1917]

79th Division helmets are pretty hard to find. I've only seen about half a dozen in the last 15 years.

[swmdo]

79th Division helmets are pretty hard to find. I've only seen about half a dozen in the last 15 years.

I agree. First one I've actually seen and held. I saw one or two on this forum although they are slightly different.

[Bugme]

Very nice looking helmet. BTW, don't worry if it doesn't look like other helmets in Armolds book. These things were all hand painted by many different "artists" and interpretations of how certain things should look varied greatly. Just look at the gazillion different ways a red number "1" appears on first ID helmets from the same time period.

[1917enfield]

I really like your 79th. It looks as sharp as the logo itself. Nice find! :thumbsup:

[swmdo]

I really like your 79th. It looks as sharp as the logo itself. Nice find! :thumbsup:

Thanks. It is a nice helmet.

[swmdo]

Very nice looking helmet. BTW, don't worry if it doesn't look like other helmets in Armolds book. These things were all hand painted by many different "artists" and interpretations of how certain things should look varied greatly. Just look at the gazillion different ways a red number "1" appears on first ID helmets from the same time period.

Thanks for the comments. I like the variations!

[bayonetman]

One I sold on eBay awhile back, when I had to sell most of my WW1 collection to pay medical bills. Really hated to let this sort of thing go, but sometimes there is just no choice.

 

[swmdo]

One I sold on eBay awhile back, when I had to sell most of my WW1 collection to pay medical bills. Really hated to let this sort of thing go, but sometimes there is just no choice.

 

Wow that almost looks like the same guy painted the helmet! I think the trim on mine is a little more rounded. I hope your doing well now. :thumbsup: