This is a US World War II M1 helmet and liner. The shell was manufactured by the McCord Radiator company, the liner was made by Firestone. The heat stamp of 629 puts this shell being produced around July or August, 1943. The helmet has a light shade of green, something that was prominent during the 1970's and 80's. I can see at least three different coats of paint on this shell. There is some texturing on the shell, but I do not know whether it is the original cork texturing or not. The helmet shell is dent free. There are no stress cracks in the shell. The stainless steel band around the rim retains almost 100% of the paint. The rim has a front seam stainless steel band. The chin strap bails are fixed. The chin straps are sewn directly to the bails and are OD #3 in color. The long strap has a raised bar brass buckle and adjuster. The strap shows almost no wear and is free of frays or rips, and stains. The short strap has the brass hook to attach to the buckle on the long strap. This strap also shows practically no wear from use and is free from stains. The shell does not have a net on it. The Westinghouse liner is from mid 1944 to late 1945 production. The Westinghouse stamp is clearly visible in the inside top of the liner, along with the number 22. The liner has been painted white, and the letters S.O.have been hand painted on the front of the liner. On the left side of the liner the letters A.S.S.O are painted. The lettering was done originally in blue and painted over in black. Back when I wore the M1 helmet we used the liners for the range safety NCO's on the small arms ranges, but who knows what this stands for. There is one crack in the liner on the left rear. The suspension cloth is cotton and khaki in color. It is retained to the liner by brass A washers painted black. The sweatband is present and shows staining from heavy wear. The cotton suspension straps show light soiling. The garters for the liner chin strap are both present, but the chin strap is missing. This liner never had A yokes installed, as it was not intended for airborne use. This is a nice example of an M1 helmet from WWII that obviously went on to see service through the end of it's time in the 1980's when the Army replaced the M1 helmet with the Kevlar helmet. This helmet would be great for the beginning collector

Item # AA2545

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