Ww2 m1 shells reissued postwar.

[moaning minnie]

HI this is just some general info im after regarding the use of ww2 shells postwar.A-did shells already in service stay with there ww2 drab and cork or were they field kitted out for korea I.E they were repainted in drab 319 and covered in sand?B-is it true that some shells found there way back to MCcords and korea being the recycle war were painted and sanded over original wartime drab and cork and then reissued?C-if 22 million shells were produced between 1941-1945 why was it so important for the US to issue a new contract to MCcords for a 1951 batch to be produced?D-apparently in 1945 according to mark bando's website there was an en masse where most D bales were destroyed did this only apply to these shells or a much larger number variants.any info on the above would go along way to filling in some m1 historical gaps.cheers dave

[MySonsDad]

Bunch of great questions and I can not wait to hear the answers to these myself, sure hope someone of knowlage chimes in.

In regards to question "C" however, just a speculation on my part but it is my understanding that post WWII huge numbers of surplus M-1's were sold to other countries, likely putting a dent into the overall number of M-1 floating around. I'm sure tons of helmets were left behind, a large number I'm guessing were scrapped and as the US Navy reduced it's # of ships, many more M-1's might have been deep sixed......but again, just a speculation on my part.

[plumbob]

I to am interested to hear any answers to these questions.
As for question D and C I have read that even before the end of the war M2s were rare and any that were left were ordered to hand them in for recycling after the war , so apparently most of the only ones that survived were ones that were brought back by wounded soldiers during the war or officers who had more respect ( if that’s the correct word to use) who weren’t questioned if they didn’t hand them in at the end of the war, which is why again apparently these are the most faked type M2s about.
As for the M1s I have also read that when they were handed in for recycling any that had dents on them or damage were scraped which i can imagine was quite a lot considering they were used as seats/cooking pots and many other uses.
Then again 22million is a lot of helmets why make more?
I am only repeating things that I have read like most of us do as i wasn’t about then, lol.
Rod

[moaning minnie]

hi rod if you read mark bando's site one of the best in this field regarding d bales then its no surprise really fact no1-by the end of the war the d bale had been replaced by the m1c so there was no chance of them being repaired etc,so en-masse in 45 had them destroyed and it was illegal to bring back to the US any shells with unit markings on,so the few that make it back had been repainted over.mark has spent over 40 years interviewing over one thousand 101st vets (including the great dick winters easy company c.o)and between them less than 10 mad it back.mark has 3 personally given to him all of them are just shells no liners or chinstraps.that is why when mark states that they just DONT exist to the general public it is the truth.apart from the few in museums there gone forever.fact no2-a large quantity of m1's were sold postwar to european countries who wanted better than there own type of headgear and most avoided the german shape for obvious reasons.dave.

[plumbob]

I luckily found a M2 unmarked in the uk over a year ago which is when I did a lot of research on these things. It was my second military item I had bought, I tried to find any information what’s so ever on line about them at that time. So what I was repeating was from memory.
Please give me link to mark bando's site so i can refresh my memory, It may be from there that i found this information originally.
Thanks
Rod

[Adrian Stevenson]

TRIGGER TIME - 101st Airborne WW2

[plumbob]

Thankyou Ade
your a very helpfull person saves me trawling through the net again thanks.
Rod

[37Webbing]

Bunch of great questions and I can not wait to hear the answers to these myself, sure hope someone of knowlage chimes in.

In regards to question "C" however, just a speculation on my part but it is my understanding that post WWII huge numbers of surplus M-1's were sold to other countries, likely putting a dent into the overall number of M-1 floating around. I'm sure tons of helmets were left behind, a large number I'm guessing were scrapped and as the US Navy reduced it's # of ships, many more M-1's might have been deep sixed......but again, just a speculation on my part.

More like sold in bulk for pennies.
Denmark received / bought a large quantity of M1 helmets of all sorts in 1948. (It is designated M/48 in Denmark)
We wanted to make our own, like we used to, but the US made a offer we couldn't resist.
I have a McCord rear seem helmet refurbished by the Danish army some time in the 1960s and fitted with a thermo plastic liner, apple green paint and helmet netting.
They were used well into the 1990s. Both the WWII helmets and the German / Austrian M1 clones.

[MySonsDad]

Argentina, Chili, China, Denmark, Israel and Spain are just some of the countries that purchased surplus US M-1's post war so it really would not be too hard to imagine that, along with the large number that we simply junked, the need for new M-1's, by the US heading in to Korea.

[ObKrieger]

I used to live right down the road from this place. We really did just junk a lot of our helmets.

The M-1 Helmet Collectors Dream -or- Nightmare?