[7.62Kolectr]

Fascinating thread.

 

[azshot]

Though I was a squid, and wore a dixie cup, I like the history of helmets too. 3 years ago when the 100 year anniversary of our expedition in WWI hit, I started looking for WW1 helmets. I got 2 of those, as estate sales. I also have picked up 3 M1 style helmets, and had fun researching them. One is WWII, one is Korea, and one is a WWII refurbished for Vietnam! To me, when I see one of these it just screams "America!" from our great 20th century. Here are 3 when I was getting them:

 

[khe sanh]

I just found what appears to be a 1944-1945 McCoy M1 helmet, and it has a stenciled, yellow marking inside it. It resembles a unit mark, but I figure it must be something else since it's on the inside of the shell. Does anybody know what this could be?

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Where is the rim seam? Your pic of the liner in the helmet to me shows a rear seam?

Initial production helmets in 1941 to late 1944 had their rims seemed in the front. All M1 helmets with this feature among others were produced during or just prior to WWII. In November 1944, the seam was moved to the REAR of the helmet.

 

[skilled]

I dont know anything about these, but boy...it sure looks uncomfortable!

 

[Olle]

Where is the rim seam? Your pic of the liner in the helmet to me shows a rear seam?

Initial production helmets in 1941 to late 1944 had their rims seemed in the front. All M1 helmets with this feature among others were produced during or just prior to WWII. In November 1944, the seam was moved to the REAR of the helmet.

It's a rear seam, which is why I believe it's from 1944-1945.

 

[ignats]

That is true, but at the same time it didn't necessarily have to be bright yellow. Also, you see a lot of helmets and uniforms with colorful insignias on the outside. A unit mark is normally used to identify who a soldier belongs with, and it's useless for that purpose if you can't do it without taking his helmet off and remove the liner. However, I have heard that they did do away with just about all identifiers like that in the Pacific theater, to the point that medics weren't marked with the red cross and everybody was told not to salute the officers. This could be a possible reason to hide the unit mark inside like that.

I'm almost totally uneducated on the Marine Corps organization, so is 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Division the final verdict? If so, I assume that they were deployed in the Pacific theater?

6th Marines (6th Marine Regiment) is part of the 2nd Marine Division and has been stationed at Camp Lejuene, NC since at least the 1960's when I was there with Force Troops, FMFLANT. The 5th and 6th Marines were both part of the Army's 2nd Division when commanded by General Lejuene during WWI. They distinguished themselves at the Belleau Wood (then under the command of General Bundy at that time). Both the 5th and 6th Marines to this day wear the French Fourragere in honor of that battle. They are the only units in the Corps who wear that type of decoration. I was with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (3/5) while in Vietnam.

 

[khe sanh]

It's a rear seam, which is why I believe it's from 1944-1945.

I'm sure you meant a McCord instead of a McCoy helmet.

Do you see any very faint #'s stamped into the helmet around the seam a heat lot stamp?

Your chin strap connection doesn't look correct for a late 1944 built McCord helmet?

 

[Olle]

I'm sure you meant a McCord instead of a McCoy helmet.

Do you see any very faint #'s stamped into the helmet around the seam a heat lot stamp?

Your chin strap connection doesn't look correct for a late 1944 built McCord helmet?

Yes, I meant to say McCord. A Freudian slip, I guess The chin straps are post war, and the sweat band appears to be post war as well. The heat stamp is 1275A.

 

[Olle]

6th Marines (6th Marine Regiment) is part of the 2nd Marine Division and has been stationed at Camp Lejuene, NC since at least the 1960's when I was there with Force Troops, FMFLANT. The 5th and 6th Marines were both part of the Army's 2nd Division when commanded by General Lejuene during WWI. They distinguished themselves at the Belleau Wood (then under the command of General Bundy at that time). Both the 5th and 6th Marines to this day wear the French Fourragere in honor of that battle. They are the only units in the Corps who wear that type of decoration. I was with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (3/5) while in Vietnam.

Thanks for the info! I read up a little bit, and it seems like the 6th Marines has a very interesting history. It would be even more interesting to know exactly where and when this helmet was used.

It was bought together with (among a few other, unrelated guns and helmets) a 1943 Inland M1 Carbine, an early (brass buckles) M1936 belt with an M2 Carbine mag pouch and a WWII issue M4 bayonet (leather handle), and finding it all together like that may not be a coincidence. The guy I bought it from was not what you would call an advanced collector, so I doubt that he bought these pieces separately to have a "matching WWII set". I might have to contact him again and see if he has more items like this.

 

[khe sanh]

heat stamp is 1275A.

McCord heat stamps stopped at 1300A yours would have been one of the last manufactured in late 44 or early 45.

 

[Olle]

McCord heat stamps stopped at 1300A yours would have been one of the last manufactured in late 44 or early 45.

I did find a chart that indicates that it was made around April-May 1945: So it's definitely a WWII helmet, but made too late to have seen much battle use. I was thinking (hoping) that it was used on Okinawa, but it seems like 6th was part of the diversion force and never went ashore.

I guess the WWII use was limited to maybe some mop-up operations and possibly training for the invasion of Japan. It's still a very nice piece of history, especially together with the rest of the stuff.

 

[Olle]

And to kinda wrap it up: Here's the bayonet, an M4 made by Imperial. This is the early variation with leather handle, and I have been looking for a nice one for quite some time. The seller didn't want to sell it separately, so I had to buy the carbine to get it. It doesn't take much persuasion to sell me a nice M1 carbine though, so it was an easy decision.