U.S. M1 Helmet Collection

[coolhandluke]

I spoke with Josh Murray from J. Murray Inc. and he was able to dig up the last two pieces that I needed for an incredibly cheap price. The 50's era helmet should be completed by the end of the week.

If anyone is ever in the market for U.S. M1 helmets or parts Josh is highly recommended. He supplied all of the U.S. helmets for The Pacific (HBO mini-series), does restoration work, and has plenty of original and in-house made repro parts. I normally troll his "original helmets and helmet parts" and "rummage sale" sections a couple times a week. I picked up the Vietnam era shell that way for only $12.50. I've also picked up several other original parts from him at a fraction of the cost that they normally sell for on eBay.

http://www.jmurrayinc1944.com/

 

[coolhandluke]

Had the day off of work yesterday so I stopped by a small shop that I picked the WWII fixed bale shell up at last year. I ran across an early WWII fiber liner sitting on the shelf...picked it up and lo and behold it was named to the same veteran as the shell that I had purchased 16 months prior. The liner and shell are now back together again. I should have stopped by a gas station and bought a lottery ticket afterwards.












Below you can see the difference between the Hawley fiber liner and the more common high pressure fiberglass liner.

The fiber liner on the left was the original version of the M1 liner which was manufactured by the Hawley Products Company of St. Charles, Illinois. The Hawley Company, working with the McCord Radiator & Manufacturing Company of Detroit, and the Quartermaster Corps, designed this liner based on their prior experience in manufacturing tropical sun helmets for the Army. The liner was constructed of two rigid fiber shells, impregnated with water-repellant materials, securely cemented together and covered with olive drab twill. The suspension system was an adaptation of one developed by John T. Riddell for his plastic football helmet and was made of lightweight silver-grey rayon webbing. The headband was non-adjustable and was supplied in 13 sizes. The neckband was also non-adjustable and came in 3 sizes. The leather chinstrap was permanently attached.

The high pressure liner on the right is composed of fiberglass, has HBT cotton webbing rather than rayon, and has an adjustable chinstrap with flip style buckle.

 

[coolhandluke]

I also received the last couple parts from Josh Murray for the 50's era helmet. He was kind enough to pick out a period correct chinstrap that looks right at home on the helmet.

 

[coolhandluke]

An individual on usmilitariaforum.com was able to ID the veteran that the fixed bale shell and Hawley liner belonged to. I've only done a small amount of research at this time, but this is what I have been able to uncover...

Lt. Col Chaplain Mark T. Warner

1889-1975




Colorado Presbyterian clergyman, proponent of the creation of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River as a national monument, U.S. Army chaplain during World War II. Author of "Diary of the Overseas Military Service of Chaplain (Lt Col) Mark T. Warner: HQ. XIV Corps in the South Pacific, 1943-1944." Served in Colorado's National Guard in the 157th Infantry Regiment before being mobilized to active duty in the 45th Infantry Division in September of 1940. Retired with rank of Colonel.

 

[flatwins]

Very cool find(s) CHL!

 

[AKguy1985]

that is awesome!

 

[RKM]

Nice collection. Always nice to see preserved history.

 

[EP1985]

I think it's awesome you get info about who used the helmets, that's cool to see

 

[coolhandluke]

Scored another nice helmet in a trade. It's not an M1, but its precursor...the M1917A1.

The shell is also manufactured by McCord Radiator which produced the M1917A1 helmet from 1936 until it transitioned to the M1 in 1941. The heat lot stamp of 11B makes it a mid-production piece. The M1917A1 shell was nearly identical to the WWI type M1917 shell with the exception of the cork finish, upgraded liner, and chinstraps. The A1 versions were newly manufactured by McCord and were also produced by converting both U.S. and British made M1917 shells to the A1 specs.












Here is the helmet displayed with some early WWII field gear. Notice the war bonds poster in the background...the soldier is wearing the same field gear and what should be an M1917A1 helmet. The liner of the helmet looks to be an A1 style, but the chinstrap style is mistakenly copied from a M1917 helmet.







Here is another poster of the M1917A1 in use at the Battle of Wake Island which was one of the first conflicts of WWII. The M1917A1 is sometimes called a Wake Island or Bataan helmet (more commonly a Kelly helmet) because of it's use at Wake Island and other early battles.

 

[Hoov]

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting CHL, his knowledge of Milsurp surpasses anyone else's that I know. Great guy to boot. I'd buy him a beer anytime.., if he was old enough to drink!