Ciao Gentlemen,

  Being an inveterate militaria collector as well as wargamer; I thought I would share with you a recent purchase as of yesterday from a local gun and militaria show.  As we all know there are hobbies that we engage in that supplement our love of wargaming.  I believe, these other hobbies give us visuals and context to better enjoy our wargaming.

  I was ecstatic when this helmet jumped into my lap.  This helmet is an early 1940's M1 Steel pot(helmet) used by US forces during WWII.  It is fixed bail(non-flexing chinstrap loopsthat later became swivel bail), early front seam and insignia painted.  M1 steel pots with painted insignia, camo and tactical symbols are quite rare in original configuration.  This example is also interesting for the medic tape used for the 1st Lieutenant bars on the front.  This tabe is applied to the liner shell as a rank bar as well.  The painted insignia is for the US 5th Army that fought up the length of Italy during the war.  The example is complete and all the parts original to it.  Not repainted nor gee's up, which for a collector is important.  Now the pics....

Originally Posted By Ardito (2 JUL 2012 5:27pm)

For some reason I am not able to upload a photo.  I was able to before...hmmm.  help please?

Could you be more specific please? Click upload image, then browse, then find image file, then wait for it to upload. Then click on it.

-Curtis Szmania

Hi Curtis,

  I went through those same steps as before...the upload bar slowly shows it as uploading and then it will stop halfway through the upload.  I waited some time(30 minutes) to see if it would finally work, but it never uploads.  My files are resized and are under 100 kb size and in jpeg format.  Very small.  I had no problem before, but this time...let me try again.

Try anew..  Worked!  I would swear I did the same thing yesterday.  Thank you for your time Curtis.

Below:  Frontal and side view of 5th Army Helmet sitting on my Skyrim box...

Below:  Notice medical tape used as 1st Lieutenant's bar.  Was this warrior a doctor or medical or support related?  Notice early arrow and prongs chinstrap attachment.

Notice the shell chinstrp is well-worn from the top from sliding on and off from the upper shell or perhaps from oil under the chin from wearing the shell apart from the heavier shell on occasion.  The inner composite shell was lighter and worn in non-combat situations, without the metal shell, for a lightweight fit.  Again I think of the medical link here.  Notice the early khaki webbing system that could be adjusted to the wearer's head.

Hope you enjoyed!

Originally Posted By Ardito (3 JUL 2012 11:19am)

Try anew..  Worked!  I would swear I did the same thing yesterday.  Thank you for your time Curtis.

 

Below:  Frontal and side view of 5th Army Helmet sitting on my Skyrim box...

 

Below:  Notice medical tape used as 1st Lieutenant's bar.  Was this warrior a doctor or medical or support related?  Notice early arrow and prongs chinstrap attachment.

 

Notice the shell chinstrp is well-worn from the top from sliding on and off from the upper shell or perhaps from oil under the chin from wearing the shell apart from the heavier shell on occasion.  The inner composite shell was lighter and worn in non-combat situations, without the metal shell, for a lightweight fit.  Again I think of the medical link here.  Notice the early khaki webbing system that could be adjusted to the wearer's head.

 

Hope you enjoyed!

You also have the inside lining. I hear those are hard to keep intact.

It sounds like your trying to figure out the story behind the helmet.

Hi Curtis,

  Thank you for your thoughts.  What is it that is said..."...if it could only talk".  When we play waragames, we want history to "talk" to us in a way. 

  Best, Russ