Are you guys familliar with red m1 pot helmets?

[gaz232sqn]

This is most likely a US Navy helmet. Used by repair parties aboard naval vessels.

The colour seems correct and original to me. A good USN helmet, not ruined at all!

Cheers,
Emile

I'm totally with you on this in every detail,if it was being sold in the UK I would have gone all out ,to buy it.

Classic USN, paint and finish

[GasMasksUK]

Heres a page that anyone interested in these red helmets might like: Mannie Gentile: Combat Helmets of the 20th Century: U.S. Navy M1 Repair Party Helmet

Thanks

Danny

[CMc]

I agree- this looks an awful lot the typical Ww2 and much later Damage control painted helmet. I fear somepeople forget that hte navy was issued stuff and marked and painted it much differently than the army did. However, since they would have come on the ship in OD green, the navy would repaint as needed. They needed paint frequently as on one destroyer I was on, the helmets would be stored verticlely in a long semi open tube. They were covered in paint, layer after layer. Not fake, not wrong, just an attempt to keep protective gear in good repair.

There were other colours used, but I have forgotten them! In todays US fire service helmet color is still a fast and efficent way of IDing rank, and function of the men and women under the helmets

I think this is a a great helmet, that may have been an army helmet in WW2, and then the navy used it afterwards, (Korea??) It may have even been taken by the navy from the wounded army soldiers brought about, and reissied.

That's a good point, there are other civilian organisations around the world who do something similar with the colour of helmets indicating rank/job etc. In the St. Andrew's Ambulance Corps we generally use blue helmets on occasions where helmets are required, but white helmets are used by Duty Officers, Area Control Officers etc in order to make them easily recognisable, whilst red helmets are also used in particular circumstances. Such procedures probably originate from military uses of different coloured helmets such as those described here.

[WWII collector]

my red Brodie has "CD" on the forehead most likely civil defense?

[CMc]

Could well be, I'm shamefully ill informed on ARP and CDC uniforms but that does seem to be a reasonable guess at who the helmet was worn by.

[meyle77]

I also got the red m1 from ebay.
I did clean up the paint and removed leftover pieces of reflective tape.
Only outside was painted matt red and then glossy red.
The helmet will be redone as MP helmet - it was repainted olive drab.
It is rear seam with movable bails. I assume it is post war.