ww1 us brodie painted white ?

[Halo1981]

Hi all

Has anyone ever known a us brodie painted white on top?
is this right as i am about to try and remove it ?

please see pictures below

[Rakkasan187]

Halo,

This may have been repurposed (repainted) for civil defense use. If this were my helmet I would not want to remove the paint as it may have been an early issue helmet. I have seen many examples of surplus M17 helmets being issued to auxiliary police and other Civil Defense entities before there were ample supplies of the standard OCD (Office of Civil Defense Helmets) produced. As America got into the WW2 after Pearl Harbor many of the military personnel still were using the M17's until enough supplies of M1 helmets were produced. As the M1 helmets replaced the M17 helmets the surplus helmets still had years of use and there was still a threat of Air Raids on the West Coast following the Pearl Harbor Attack and thus Civil Defense members were issued the broadies and then they were overpainted.

Here is an example of an Auxiliary Police CD helmet which is a WW1 M17 Kelly helmet that has been reissued for Civil Defense use..

These M17 helmets are out there painted and marked for Civil Defense use but they are not as common as the OCD helmet with the higher profile that we are used to seeing..

It's a nice looking helmet,, Since it's yours you can do with it what you want if you want to strip the paint or leave as is...

Best regards

Smitty