SOLD (st) Fine US WWII M1 Helmet, Airborne Troop Carrier
This helmet is a unique, end of WWII Pacific theater Airborne Carrier adorned helmet, likely used for parade or possibly the MPs. Due to the late war features, I sought the advice of one of the foremost experts on US helmets to determine the period it was used, and also because of the fine condition and uniqueness of this helmet. In so doing, I learned a ton. Here is the narrative:
“Schleuter actually preceded McCord in manufacturing swivel bales, with the first coming off the line in April 1944. You also have the soft steel rim (vs the stainless steel rim), and that manufacture started in Sep/Oct 1944. That’s a late four-place, alpha-numeric heat stamp. The last run of Schleuters in 1945 had no heat stamp at all, so your shell was manufactured between Oct 1944 and Jan/Feb 1945. Since Schleuter manufacturing was in St. Louis, and McCord in New York, and the main effort was shifting to the Pacific, it’s entirely probable that your rig was shipped to San Fran (via train) and shipped to the Pacific theater sometime in Mar/Apr timeframe. Given the nice condition of both the shell and liner, and the full-color Abn Cmd patch on the shell, it’s obviously an MP or parade helmet. The liner may or may not be original to the shell. It has the light olive dye chin strap with early J-hook, however, the blackened liner steel washers and blackened leather liner buckle make it early 1945 manufacture. This liner is a perfect example that assembly lines used any parts available to complete a liner!”
My COA of course will accompany this historic helmet’s purchase.
