Original Item: Only One Available. The M1 helmet is a combat helmet that was used by the U.S. military from World War II until 1985, when it was succeeded by the PASGT helmet. The M1 helmet has become an icon of the US military, with its design inspiring other militaries around the world. M1Cs were a variant of the U.S. Army’s popular and iconic M1 helmet developed in WWII to replace the M2 helmet. There were several differences between the M1 and M2 including the bales (chin strap hinges). The M2 had fixed, spot welded “D” bales, so named because of the shape they took. It was found that these bales broke when sat down or dropped. It was refitted to use the swivel bales, which could be moved around and was therefore less prone to breaking.

The M-1C helmet retains its original cork grain paint and swivel bale chinstrap loops. It also has original shuttle loom sewn chinstraps set with original hardware and snaps

The U.S. WWII M-1 helmet was only produced from 1941 to 1945. The first production batch resulted with over 323,510 M-1 helmets before the start of the American involvement in the war. This helmet is heat lot stamped 1179C which indicates the approximate manufacture date of early 1945. The shell is fitted with a lovely Mine Safety Appliances (MSA) paratrooper liner in wonderful condition. M1 helmet liners intended for use by paratroopers had a different construction. The short piece of webbing which held the nape strap at the back of the wearer's neck was extended around the sides of the liner, and terminated on each side in "A" shaped yokes which hung down below the rim of the liner and had buckles for an adjustable chin cup made of molded leather. Two female snaps on the inside of the liner above the "A" yokes accepted male snaps on each of the steel shell's chinstraps, and helped to keep the liner inside the steel shell during abrupt or violent movements.

The Ordnance Department selected McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit Michigan to produce the steel M1 helmet bodies. These bodies were made from a single piece of Hadfield Manganese steel that was produced by the Carnegie-Illinois & Sharon Steel Corporations. Each completed raw M-1 helmet shell weighed 2.25 lbs each.

This fantastic condition M1 shell has correct later war swivel (movable) chinstrap loops called "bales" and a stainless steel rim with a rear seam. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). In November 1944 the specification was changed to have the rim seam in the rear of the helmet.

This helmet shell is a fine example and still retains most of its original WW2 parts and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint, though it definitely has seen use, and the cork is worn and chipped off in places. Both sides of the helmet are decorated with hand painted shamrocks on both sides. Worn on the helmet is a lovely helmet net.

The liner is a genuine WWII issue helmet liner by MSA, which was then modified at the arsenal to be a paratrooper liner. Westinghouse was the only manufacturer of “ready to use” paratrooper liners. The liner is at its core a correct "high pressure" style M-1 Helmet liner was manufactured by Mine Safety Appliances of Evans City, Pennsylvania, as identified by an embossed stylized MSA logo in the crown. Mine Safety Appliance started M-1 helmet liner delivery to the US Army in September 1942. They produced approximately between 2,000,000 – 4,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and discontinued production around August 17, 1945 when the war ended.

A true US WWII M-1 helmet liner can usually be identified through the frontal eyelet hole. Other correct WW2 features include cotton herringbone twill (HBT) cloth suspension. This HBT suspension is held tightly within the M-1 helmet liner by rivets and a series of triangular "A" washers. The three upper suspension bands are joined together with a shoestring. This way the wearer could adjust the fit. The sweatband is intact, and in good condition with cracking present. The “A” yokes are in wonderful condition and are undamaged but lightly stained. The leather chin cup is in very nice condition with minor cracking on the straps but still in great condition.

Paratrooper helmets and liners are the hardest to find of all WWII M1 helmets. This fine example is almost certainly to appreciate in value year after year!

M1C Helmet
The M1C helmet was a variant of the U.S. Army's popular and iconic M1 helmet. Developed in World War II to replace the earlier M2 helmet, it was not made available until issued to paratroopers in January of 1945. It was different from the M2 in various ways, most importantly its bails (chinstrap hinges). The M2 had fixed, spot welded "D" bales so named for their shape, similar to early M1s. It was found that when sat on or dropped, these bails would snap off. The solution was the implementation of the swivel bail, which could move around and so was less susceptible to breaking.

Like the M2, its most visible difference from the standard infantry M1 helmet was the liner. The liner of the M1C, like most paratrooper liners, had a set of "A yokes" or straps fixed to the side of the liner to enable the use of a four-point chinstrap with leather chin cup to give support to the head and neck and prevent adverse movement during jumps. It used a simple but strong and reliable belt loop-type connection to secure the chinstrap to the a-yokes, which could be opened or closed from either side and thus partially removed without tools. This retention system was not significantly different to the M2's, and the normal infantry chinstrap could still be attached to the helmet shell if desired. Often, however, these modified liners could not be manufactured in time for jumps so they were modified by the soldiers themselves.

Another difference of the M1C was the chinstraps (this was seen on the M2). The chinstraps found on the M2 and M1C both had a button snap on the end so as to be fastened to the liner.

Despite the numerous differences between the M1C and the standard M1 helmet, the shell of the M1C is practically identical to standard swivel bail infantry helmets, making a concrete identification of a helmet as an M1C difficult. There's an argument to be made that the important part of an M1C is actually just a liner with the four-point chinstrap that can slip into any M1 helmet.

The M1C would continue in US service after World War II, with a new split-fabric chinstrap introduced between the Korean War and the Vietnam War not dissimilar to the one seen on the later PASGT helmet, but retaining the belt loop-style chinstrap connection. The M1C would remain in service until the adoption of PASGT, though the M1C would remain a fairly uncommon sight after Korea. They do turn up in various non-airborne units in Vietnam photography, however, suggesting that outside of jump-rated units they were treated like any other M1 and that they were perhaps more common than some thought.