A little help with WWII M1 FS FB

[mcmike]

A little help, if you would, on this relic M1. Front seam, fixed bale, heat # appears to be 1910 or 191C. Looks like it had a Major's or Lt. Col's insignia soldered to the front at one time. Bought it for $5 for the shell at a flea market in DFW over 20 years ago, but one of my favorite helmets (out of 60+) because of character.

Looks like it was cooked in at one time. Seems to have original paint. Looking at the solder marks for the insignia, the little stem at the bottom seems to point to the right (I have the same trait, but that is another story). Looking at Interweb pic of these insignia it looks like most dangle to the left, but a few to the right. Do not know what this means.

Hard to image a person of this rank cooking in his helmet, but situations may have created a need.

MY QUESTIONS:
1) What do you think this heat number is?
2) What is the approx production year?
3) Does it look like a Major/Lt. Col. insignia to you?

I like to try to ferret out info on all my helmets, so wild-ass conjecture will be accepted as semi-fact. Of course, net, chinstrap, are repros, and liner added later. Thanks for your help on this matter of minor importance!

[Patches]

hello, nicd lid. i wish i was lucky enough to find a lid like this for $5. did it come with a liner? for starters if this is a fixed bale the heat stamp is probably 191C. that would make the production year between may or june of 1942. very nice lid and i have no idea about the rank.

[mcmike]

Thanks, Danny. No, it was just the shell with no liner. Love the "cooked-in" look. I think they had little cans of an alcohol based gel that they lit under their canteen cups or helmets to warm the food or liquid inside. This would lead to the localized burns on the outside dome. I figure it had usage in the France-Belgium-Germany or the Italian drives, but could have been anywhere actually. Personality.

[Patches]

does i have a name or number anywhere? that would be cool if you could find who used it. it would also be nice if you knew about the rank. i have a hawley liner that i am looking for a lieutenant marke pot with fixed bales to go with.

[mcmike]

No I.D. of any kind, other than the rank. Hate to think of how many Majors and Lt. Colonels there were in WW2. It seems they made good targets, especially if they were wearing their rank on the front of their helmet! Good luck on finding that helmet to go with the Hawley! How did you end up with that?

Mike

[Patches]

i ended up getting it on ebay, i have never been lucky enough to find anything good at flea markets. maybe the rank was taken off somewhat to make it harder to target. i have a medic lid that had the big circle with the cross scratched off and then a small cross replaced it

[mcmike]

In the Pacific Theater the medic cross made a great target , too. The Germans usually respected it, but not the Japanese. Maybe it is from the PTO.

You can still get some good things on eBay, but you have to be VERY patient. And NEVER bid on anything until the last 20 seconds.

[AZPhil]

I can't answer your questions , But that was not used to cook in .The outer cork/paint would have been burnt away and just not in the area that is missing its paint. I have one that was used either as a cooking pot or to boil water in and the outside finish is gone!!!!
Considering how the corrosion is in the upper portion and that netting has NO sign of rust . I would say the netting was added at a later date .

Semper Fi
Phil

Semper Fi
Phil

[mcmike]

Yes, as I noted previously, I added the net, chinstrap and liner just to complete it. When I bought it it was a shell. Now, I may very well be wrong (usually am) but I believe the GIs were issued a product similar to Sterno, the alcohol based gel in a can, that they lit and heated up water or coffee in canteen cups, or water or food in helmets. This gel-in-a-can would have left a smaller burn spot. If they set the helmet in a fire it definitely would have burned a wider area, as you say. They seldom built big fires when on the line due to the obvious fact that it would draw enemy fire. The gel cans burned with a small blue flame, and in the bottom of a fox hole would be difficult to see.

[ruddersrangers44]

Hi mike im curious as to why you felt the need to add stuff to make it complete?in its original state its what it is a piece of iconic history,but now its something else, if your helmet ends up in circulation being sold as an original somebody might get stung,this is just my opinion of course and your entitled to do with it as you please............