A recent "barn find" from the Ardennes. This American M1 fixed bale helmet was left by a soldier of either 99th or 1st Infantry Division during the battle of the bulge. What is interesting is that after cleaning the helmet shows distinct traces of several former guises. Firstly there are signs that the original colour of this helmet was USN blue, grey. Then later it was painted in the standard OD, before having a coat of whitewash over this. Also, although not visible in these pictures the helmet did once have a camouflaged netting over it. There is a clear "chequered" rust pattern on the helmet that the damp netting has left behind. Was this helmet re-issued after its USN owner lost it during Operation Overlord, it then being given to a soldier of the 1st Infantry? The truth will not be known to anyone but the soldier who so hastily abandoned it in 1944.