Fixed bail M-1 helmet, looks to have a gray painted band ?

[NickD]

hiya guys

this finally turned up today a fixed bail McCord made shell with looks to be a gray painted band around it the liner is a foreign post war made version.

[helmet2id]

I like it, the band certainly would appear to be wartime applied, and the covered when the lid was repainted. Do you think the straps were replaced when the shell was repainted? My guess is that they were. Nice lid, Jim G.

[NickD]

thanks

the chin strap looks to be late to post war issue so more then likely replacements after being repainted.

[NickD]

well ive uncovered the painted band

[moaning minnie]

well ive uncovered the painted band

nick how the blazes do you remove the top paint without removing or damaging the original wartime paint?it looks top pot dave

[Nitram]

Great lid, sometimes going on a hunch is worth the risk! What was the purpose of this stripe?

The liner pictured is Belgian by the way, mind snapping a picture of the inside for reference? If I'm not mistaken it should be nearly identical to a US WWII liner, the color of the webbing was different however.


Nitram

[NickD]

nick how the blazes do you remove the top paint without removing or damaging the original wartime paint?it looks top pot dave

hiya mate

in the case of this one i used nail polish remover with cotton buds taking it very easy & only doing a bit at a time i takes a long time doing it this way but you get a good result as you can see also i only removed the over paint from the blue/grey band & left the rest as is was when i got it

[NickD]

Great lid, sometimes going on a hunch is worth the risk! What was the purpose of this stripe?

The liner pictured is Belgian by the way, mind snapping a picture of the inside for reference? If I'm not mistaken it should be nearly identical to a US WWII liner, the color of the webbing was different however.


Nitram

i know the liner wasn't a US made liner that's why i got rid of it when i got it & replaced it with a US made liner as for the band this is some info i found about these markings

All Navy units that would be operating on the beaches during D-Day were instructed to paint a thick gray band around their helmets so that they could be identified as Navy personnel, and not Army personnel. This band sometimes obscured insignia that were previously painted on the helmets.

[MySonsDad]

Great Great Find You gotta love these old repainted M-1's. I keep my eyes peeled for signes of something good going on under the top coat, I hope to stumble on to a treasure someday like you have here.

[NickD]

cheers mate

they are still out there to be found i would love to find an hidden medic lid