Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. Now this was an incredible discovery. The helmet itself is extremely nice and is named on the inside lip of the paper liner ENS. ALTEMUS VF-5. What happened next was really surprising, we were able to identify the pilot! Ensign John P. Altemus was a pilot with the VF-5 Screaming Eagles during the Pacific Campaign of WWII. He is mentioned in the book “The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign, Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942” on page 233. The excerpt states that; “Several VF-3 pilots, such as 26-year-olds Lieutenant Junior Grade John P. “Johnny” Altemus and Francis R. “Cash” Register, were combat veterans fresh from the bloody air war over Guadalcanal. Both men had six confirmed aerial kills.”
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more. With having 6 confirmed victories under his belt, John P. Altemus was a Flying Ace! The helmet and story just keeps getting better, for example, his Wingman, the pilot of a secondary aircraft providing support or protection to a primary aircraft in a potentially dangerous situation, was none other than Lieutenant-Commander Edward “Butch” O’Hare.
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of the war when he single-handedly attacked a formation of nine heavy bombers approaching his aircraft carrier. Even though he had a limited amount of ammunition, he was credited with shooting down five enemy bombers and became the first naval aviator recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II.
The helmet itself is a very nice early example of a genuine WWII Front-Seam Fixed Bale M1 Helmet made by McCord Radiator, with an extremely rare Hawley pressed paper liner, which is mostly complete, a rare thing to see.
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 55B, a very low number which indicates the approximate manufacture date of February 1942, two months after the U.S. entered into WWII.
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.
The early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed chinstrap loops called "bales" and a stainless steel rim. 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).
This helmet is a fine example and still retains all of its original WW2 parts and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint with front seam and fixed bails. The chin strap is the correct OD Green #3 with blacked brass hardware.
Condition of the shell is quite nice, with only a few scratches, and the paint retained very well. There is also still a lot of paint on the Stainless Steel rim, which was prone to wear. The shell does have a few stress cracks, common due to the "high dome" design of the M1. The front of the helmet has a faint marking that reads as 16? / AIR. The marking above “AIR” appears to be incomplete, making it difficult to discern.
The liner is also in quite good condition, which is somewhat rare, as the Hawley liners were made of paper, and unfortunately not nearly as resistant to wear as the "high-pressure" type. It does not have any extensive cracking or wear present. The rayon web suspension is also in very nice shape and mostly complete, but is missing the leather chinstrap.
This is definitely a helmet that saw very little use during the war, but was not abused, giving it that great worn look. This would make a worthy addition to any WWII or Helmet collection. Ready to display!
Features a RARE Hawley Liner:
The shape and characteristics of the Hawley liner were identical to those of the fiberglass counterpart. The differences were the material of construction and the absence from the front metal grommet, which is where insignia could be placed. The suspension was made of a series of canvas straps. The sweatband has a leather cover. The whole assembly was riveted to the body of the liner. Small buckles were provided to adjust the suspension. However, doing so was difficult and very clumsy. The Hawley liner was issued in very small numbers during the early days of World War Two.
- This product is available for international shipping.
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