Ww2 us paratrooper helmet d bale (help)

[flash developer]

Hello all,
I hope it's OK to bump this thread a bit, but I recently came across a fake M1C "D" bale helmet that was marked 506th airborne(there was a white spade painted on the side, captain bars on the front and a 'follow-me' bar on the back). I've never owned one but I have been told that original D-bale shells have a crimped "divot" clearly visible on the rim, centered between the two posts of the D-bale. Besides being a Schlueter, the shell in this thread does NOT have that divot.

Unfortunately, it seems that the fakers are getting better at their fakes because the fake M1C I found DOES have the correct divot. Here's a pic the the correct divot... but on the fake M1C that I found...

It's sad, but at this point I don't know if I would take a chance on buying ANY M1C!

[NickD]

they may be getting clued up on these little things but they still cant get it right as the so called dimple is way to heavily done so just ends screaming out even louder that its a fake i have a couple of M-1s that have the dimple but they're standard fixed bail type & you can barely see dimple.

[flash developer]

they may be getting clued up on these little things but they still cant get it right as the so called dimple is way to heavily done so just ends screaming out even louder that its a fake i have a couple of M-1s that have the dimple but they're standard fixed bail type & you can barely see dimple.

Interesting... thanks for sharing! Does every fixed-bale have the divots?... it's not just on the para shells? I've only owned one fixed-bale and it was missing a bale and salty as hell(USN), so I didn't even notice the divots if they were there. Good to know.

Sometimes I get paranoid thinking that threads like this actually help the fakers... but the fakers don't need to read these posts! They just buy a high-end knockoff, online.

They can buy a very well done fake that's chemically-aged to perfection. A "genuine front-seam WW2 helmet" that is "restored to a M1C, D-bale helmet"... everything is "original WW2" (except the repro D-bales and the paint job)... "even the corking is original WW2!"


(you know who I'm talk'in 'bout...)

[NickD]

no not all fixed bail lids have the dimple i have 6 & only 2 have the dimple these may have at one point been allocated to be D bails but never were instead they were just made in to standard fixed bails.

[Bugme]

Just to clarify: A D-bail is not an M-1C. The M-1C is a swivel bail helmet configured for for Airborne. These were made from mid-43 to the end of the war. The D-bail being referred to here is an M-2

[NickD]

i guess it was inevitable that some fakers would go as far as trying to replicate the dimple !

[plumbob]

im in no way an expert on M-1's even more so on M-2's as ive no experience of handling the real deal but ive done more then enough research to spot his biggest mistake was to use the wrong maker of shell to crate this piece of junk !!!!!

You are very wellcome Nick to visit my helmet if your ever up this way .
regards rod

[NickD]

thanks mate i would love to take you up on that offer but being all the way down in Kent its a bit of a distance to travel so i will have to make do with just pics for now