British MK1 helmets for AEF

**OldSteel** · 11-09-2015, 05:54 PM

Hello everyone,
I want share two interesting MK1 helmets used by US Army soldiers during WW1, shame that they lost the chinstrap.
That I like very much because they were actually used in combat.
1)-This first example is camouflaged with glue and sand, and I realized only time after finding it, that under the camouflage you can be seen the flash of 35th Division, I believe that this is the 137th Infantry Regiment.

To be able to make it more visible I put it in the shade and the flash illuminated with a flashlight (at side the design of frieze):

2)-This MK1, has been used by a soldier of 77th Division, the divisional flash was painted after returning to home for the final parade:

I hope they are to your liking.
greetings
Roberto

**AZPhil** · 11-09-2015, 06:35 PM

Great helms. My sister in Laws grand father was in the AEF. I have both volumes of his L'Album de la Guerre 1914 - 1919. Fantastic books (HUGE). The sad part is that this gent made it through that war only to trip and fall on his way home from the local bar during a snow storm. His body was found in a snow drift the next afternoon.

Semper Fi
Phil

**OldSteel** · 11-09-2015, 07:12 PM

Yes, Phil
are the cases of the life, the story of your sister in Laws grand father, remind me the story of an Italian hero of WW2: the Gen. Luigi Reverberi, Alpine Division "Tridentina" Commander, who in an epic battle during the Russian Campaign (Nikolaevka) broke the encirclement of Red Army, saving the lives of 40.000 Italian soldiers who were able to return home.
Well, survived the bloody battles of Russian Front and at temperatures of -40°C, died after the war falling down from the stairs at home!!

**ynot** · 11-10-2015, 07:51 AM

I made the mistake of underrating US used helmets, whether Brit of US made. There used to be so many around well, there still are but they're now far more expensive especially after shipping and customs costs. A very nice pair of lids Roberto.

Tony

**aef1917** · 11-10-2015, 04:47 PM

Helmets with the sand finish were salvaged from the battlefields and shipped to one of the Ordnance Depots where a group of US enlisted men and French civilians cleaned them, pounded out dents, repainted and (when necessary) relined them. The sand was a by-product of dredging operations conducted by US Engineers.