Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. There were very few American units of the First World War which painted their helmets before the end of the war. The 80th Division were one of these very few, painting their helmets with “flashes” akin to those used by British & Commonwealth soldiers, who utilized a variety of shapes & colors to signify their unit. This helmet was worn by Corporal George J. Voelker, Company D, 315th Machine Gun Battalion. He painted the front of the helmet with a red star within a blue hatched circle with a red arrow through it.

The side of the helmet is correctly painted with the Blue Ridge of the 80th Division, AEF. The paint is worn but fully intact and displays beautifully from the front-left corner with both insignia shown.

The shell is maker-marked with a stamping on the underside of the rim that reads FS 95, for manufacture by Thomas Firth & Sons Ltd of Sheffield. It is partially obscured under the heavy paint and can be difficult to read. The split pins on the chinstrap bales indicate this as a British made helmet.

The helmet does retain its original liner & chinstrap, however the liner appears to have some serious degradation from some sort of animal eating away at the oilcloth and asbestos. The original rubber ring is retained although it is now rock-solid. The chinstrap appears to have a small period repair with a small rubber washer replacing the metal ring connecting the strap to the bottom half. The liner and chinstrap system are a bit rough but they are still complete and could just use a bit of cleaning.

George Joseph Voelker was born on August 17th, 1892 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was inducted into the National Draft on April 29th, 1918, immediately being assigned to Company D, 315th Machine Gun Battalion, 80th Division. Voelker traveled overseas on May 18th, 1918, seeing heavy combat in the Artois Sector, Somme Offensive, St. Mihiel Offensive, Bethincourt Sector, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He returned stateside on May 30th, 1919 and was discharged on June 10th, 1919. He passed away on April 8th, 1984 at the age of 92.

This is a fantastic named and identified 80th Division helmet, correctly a British-made Mk. I, signifying that it almost certainly saw all the combat of the 80th Division. A great example, ready for further research and display.

The U.S. M1917 "Doughboy" Helmet:
The United States entered into World War I in April 1917, at this time the United States Army did not have a helmet for its troops. The adoption of a helmet by the French, British and German armies convinced the United States Army that a helmet was needed as a standard piece of equipment. In June 1917, the United States Army selected the standard British helmet design for its use. This was the British Mk. I steel helmet. There were three main reasons for the selection of the British Mk. I helmet design: "the immediate availability of 400,000 ready-made helmets from England, the simplicity of manufacture from hard metal, and the superior ballistic properties." When the British Mk. I was selected by the United States Army, its United States production version was designated and standardized as the Helmet, M-1917. Until United States production of the M-1917 could begin, the United States Army purchased the 400,000 available British Mk. I helmets in England and issued them to the American Expeditionary Forces already in Europe. Production was begun on the M-1917 helmets in the fall of 1917. By the end of November 1917, large quantities of M-1917 helmets became available for the United States Army.

The M-1917 helmet was very similar to the British Mk. I helmet. The helmet was basically an inverted bowl stamped out of a single piece of manganese alloy, which was made up of 13 percent manganese and was .036" thick. This differed from the British helmet, as the Mk. I helmet was made up of 12 percent manganese. Thus ballistically, the M-1917 helmet increased protection for the wearer by 10 percent over the British Mk. I helmet, and could withstand a .45 caliber pistol bullet traveling at 600 feet per second fired at a distance of 10 feet. A rim was spot welded to the edge of the steel bowl, with the ends butted, as opposed to lapped, which was done on the British Mk. I helmet. Riveted to the steel bowl were two flexible guiding loops for the chin strap. Here again, the U.S. M-1917 helmet differed from the British Mk. I helmet. On the U.S. helmet the loops were secured by solid machined rivets, whereas the British Mk. I helmet used split rivets. An adjustable leather chin strap was riveted to the steel bowl and consisted of two halves, each joined together by metal loops which were secured to the ends of the leather halves by steel split rivets. Also riveted to the steel bowl was the helmet lining. The lining was also similar to that of the British Mk. I helmet and consisted of a number of items described below:

The lining was woven of cotton twine in meshes three-eighths of an inch square. This web, fitting tightly upon the wearer's head, evenly distributed the weight of the two-pound helmet, and in the same way distributed the force of any blow upon the helmet. The netting, together with the small pieces of rubber around the edge of the lining, kept the helmet away from the head, so that even a relatively large dent could not reach the wearer's skull.

The linings of the U.S. M-1917 helmet were produced by 10 shoe manufacturing companies.

The lining, as mentioned above, consisted of cotton twine mesh surrounded by a circular piece of leather that held tubular pieces of rubber, and the mesh was covered by a piece of black oil cloth. Sandwiched between the lining and the steel bowl was also a piece of felt.

The steel for the M-1917 helmet was rolled by the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company.

The steel was then pressed and stamped into its bowl shape by seven companies, which were: Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Sparks, Withington Company, Jackson, Michigan; Crosby Company, Buffalo, New York; Bossett Corporation, Utica, New York; Columbian Enameling & Stamping Company, Terre Haute, Indiana; Worchester Pressed Steel Company, Worchester, Massachusetts; and Benjamin Electric Company, Des Plaines, Illinois. The steel was stamped with an austenite heat number and shipment number, which were used to identify the quality of steel and shipment lots. The metal helmets and woven linings were delivered to the plant of the Ford Motor Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they were painted and assembled. To make the outside surface of the helmet anti-glare, the helmets were first painted, then fine sawdust was blown on the wet paint, and finally the helmet was painted again. To increase protective properties the helmets were painted in an olive drab shade.

During the fall of 1917 production was begun on the M-1917 helmets. By the end of November 1917, the first deliveries of large quantities of M-1917 helmets were being made to the United States Army. On 17 February 1918, approximately 700,000 M-1917 helmets had been produced. As United States involvement in World War I increased, the U.S. Army placed additional orders for the M-1917 helmet. By July 1918 orders for the M-1917 helmet reached 3,000,000, in August 6,000,000, and in September 7,000,000. In November 1918, when hostilities ended and American production was ordered to cease, U.S. Manufacturers had produced a total of 2,707,237 M-1917 helmets. Production figures for the pressed and stamped steel helmets during World War I, were as follows:

Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Co. - 1,150,775
Sparks, Withington Co. - 473,469
Crosby Co. - 469,968
Bossett Corporation - 116,735
Columbian Enameling & Stamping Co. - 268,850
Worchester Pressed Steel Co - 193,840
Benjamin Electric Co. - 33,600