BEAST Posted October 23, 2015 Share #51 Posted October 23, 2015 Outstanding! It's great being able to put a face to the name. So is it too greedy to ask for a photo of him wearing the helmet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtdorango Posted October 23, 2015 Share #52 Posted October 23, 2015 Now Scott has to build a top shelf to go on top of his top shelf to display this helmet!!....mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alberto1361 Posted October 23, 2015 Share #53 Posted October 23, 2015 Very intresting helmet, congratulations. Also Ernest Hemingway was an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Italy during ww1and used it too. I wonder if they met? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USdog Posted October 23, 2015 Share #54 Posted October 23, 2015 Awesome helmet.... I was able to find an AFS members photo as well that I have the dog tag of through their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share #55 Posted October 24, 2015 Outstanding! It's great being able to put a face to the name. So is it too greedy to ask for a photo of him wearing the helmet? That would be amazing however, it only took me 5 years to track down a photo of him from when he joined the AFS, maybe in another 5 years????? Thanks for all the input guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share #56 Posted October 24, 2015 Thats a great catch. I knew that they had existed but I've never seen one or even a picture of one in colour!! Excellent. Rob Here's an AFS volunteer wearing his badged Adrian in the trench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kammo-man Posted October 24, 2015 Share #57 Posted October 24, 2015 This is one VERY special helmet. owen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinO Posted October 25, 2015 Share #58 Posted October 25, 2015 UPDATE: It's been a few years since I originally posted this helmet but, because of some research that I saw on another forum about the AFS, I was able to track down photo's today of John Aubrey Gordon! I am jazzed to say the least!!! Scott, have you run him through Ancestry? I once found a photo of an AFS driver on his 1917 passport application. Also stated something along the lines of "Reason for leaving the US: volunteering in the AFS, France." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMariner Posted October 25, 2015 Share #59 Posted October 25, 2015 Wow this helmet is a beauty and that photo adds so much more to the story behind the helmet. Hope you can find some more info!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted October 25, 2015 Share #60 Posted October 25, 2015 Nice work getting the photo Scott! It's always great to put a face to history. It always turns up with persistence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share #61 Posted October 26, 2015 Scott, have you run him through Ancestry? I once found a photo of an AFS driver on his 1917 passport application. Also stated something along the lines of "Reason for leaving the US: volunteering in the AFS, France." I got a ton of stuff from Ancestry from his "after" war activities as an attorney and mayor but, none included a photo. I am researching AFS to find some possible war time photo's from his T.M.U. Nice work getting the photo Scott! It's always great to put a face to history. It always turns up with persistence. I had honestly pretty much given up RC but, you're right, it was that one last shot in the dark and TADA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Creek Posted February 11, 2018 Share #62 Posted February 11, 2018 Since 2010 when Scott bought the helmet at the start of this thread from Bay State Militaria, I've been on the lookout for one like it. A few days ago I found one! This came from a man who was from Elkhart, Indiana. He said it had been in his family since before WWII, but did not know any more about the history of the piece, or anything about the person whose name is scratched in the rear visor, “R.T. HANKS.” As it turns out, there is a Raymond Theodore Hanks who appears on the roster for American Field Service volunteers from the First World War. Further research uncovered an AFS service record. Hanks served with the AFS in France from June 20th to October 9th 1917 in unit Transport Material Unit (TMU) 133. He was a 23 year old graduate of Western Reserve University. His address on record was Cleveland, OH, which is only 240 miles from Elkhart, IN where the helmet was stored for many years. The Transport Material Units functioned similar to the Ambulance units, but instead of bringing wounded from the front they drove trucks with ammunition, food, and other supplies to the front. According to available records, Raymond Hanks was rejected for service in the US Army after his "liberation" from AFS service. Apparently not one to give up easily, he volunteered for service in the French army and was training for artillery service at the Ecole Militaire at Fountainbleau near war’s end in October of 1918. During the Second World War he was listed as a representative to the AFS. Mark D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Creek Posted February 11, 2018 Share #63 Posted February 11, 2018 Badge close up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Creek Posted February 11, 2018 Share #64 Posted February 11, 2018 second pattern liner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Creek Posted February 11, 2018 Share #65 Posted February 11, 2018 Raymond Theodore Hanks himself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Camouflage Pattern I Posted February 11, 2018 Share #66 Posted February 11, 2018 Amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanemono Posted February 11, 2018 Share #67 Posted February 11, 2018 Amazing helmet and research! Thanks. Dick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMC-RECON0321 Posted February 11, 2018 Share #68 Posted February 11, 2018 Now that is what I love to see, an great helmet with provenance and research to back it up. Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtdorango Posted February 12, 2018 Share #69 Posted February 12, 2018 Bazinga!....what a helmet!....mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36thIDAlex Posted February 12, 2018 Share #70 Posted February 12, 2018 WOW! Awesome to see more of these extremely valuable and hard to find helmets surface. These are very important to the story of Americans in the first World War. Awesome find and great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share #71 Posted February 12, 2018 I love the AFS, they kept such awesome records! This helmet belonging to Hanks is another fine example of the great sacrifice by the all volunteer AFS college students who answered the call before the U.S. got involved in WWI. However, those students were back at, albeit in smaller numbers, when the AFS returned as WWII started to ramp up. Below is the helmet I acquired which belonged to WWII AFS driver, Bertrand Hutchinson. Again, AFS archives are astounding for doing research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topdcnut Posted February 12, 2018 Share #72 Posted February 12, 2018 Wow! Amazing.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Creek Posted February 13, 2018 Share #73 Posted February 13, 2018 Great to see this extremely rare helmet! What else do we know about Hutchinson? Did you actually meet him? What does the interior look like? -Mark D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugme Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share #74 Posted February 13, 2018 Great to see this extremely rare helmet! What else do we know about Hutchinson? Did you actually meet him? What does the interior look like? -Mark D. I wish I had met him but, this helmet came out of a storage unit that was inherited by the nephew of the guy who stored it there. The nephew informed me that his uncle was an antique horder so, no idea how he got it. The liner is mostly eaten away but, Hutchinsons name is on the inside brim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted February 15, 2018 Share #75 Posted February 15, 2018 Really great helmets! Thanks for sharing! Hunt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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