This is the
story of the restoration of an American M1 helmet shell. It had started its life
as a fixed bale front seamed pot and come through various owners before being
finally rescued.
In February 2007 I received an email
from a good friend and collector of German militaria regarding a helmet he had
recently purchased. My attention was drawn to the prominent 88th Infantry
Division markings "Blue Devils". This unit had fought bravely on the
Italian front with heavy losses. However this was not the only marking visible.
Beneath the 88th Division cloverleaf was the famous Red Bull markings of the
34th Infantry Division. This unit had also fought with great spirit in the
Italian campaign and is generally considered to be the best American Division to
have fought in this theatre.
Whether a painted insignia is original or not is never easy to tell. Unlike
German decals there were no official patterns for US unit insignia, so that
there are many styles and using different paint types. At the wars end some
units did have decals, but these were usually applied to liners only.
The paint on this helmet however looked old and original. The existence of two
different unit insignia on the helmet made it curious and so I told my friend
that , in my best opinion at the time I was only 50% sure it was entirely
original.
The second thing that attracted attention however was the general condition of
the shell. The helmet had survived the war with just a few minor scratches on
the two original layers of paint along with the usual vertical cracks found on
nearly all early M1 shells.
After the war the shell appeared to have been used as a bucket by a builder as
there were traces of lime on the inside. At some time after this another owner,
perhaps a child had sought to "tidy" up the shell by painting the
inside a lurid green and filled in the outer dents and cracks with filler before
painting it white. The result was a shell only fit for the bin, all value lost.
After many years another collector had obtained the shell and decided to make
some effort to restore it. This owner had removed most of the outside layer of
filler and paint but left all the green on the inside. Due to the condition of
the shell this collector gave up on it and sold it. It was then that my friend
came to own it.
I gave my
friend my opinion on the shell and he agreed with me. I then asked whether he
wanted to trade it for some German items in my own collection and a trade was
made. The attraction in the shell was more to do with the restoration involved
rather than the item itself. It represented a challenge.
When I began the restoration I had already decided that I would spend weeks or
even months on it. I would also document its restoration through photographs.
Firstly a sharp cutter was used to remove most of the plaster. Then, using the
proper tools of a decreasing size I removed the material from the outside of the
shell. To make this procedure easier I divided the shell into segments using
tape so that I could work over a section at a time. Sometimes the smallest
pieces of paint and plaster had to be removed with a needle!
The paint on the inside was carefully removed with nail varnish remover. A month
had passed but the helmet already looked far better than before. An added
surprise at the end of the cleaning process was the discovery of a third
insignia! This was the tactical marking for an officer a white bar on the rear
of the shell!
There are still one or two decisions left to be decided. Should I add an
original chin strap or leave it as it was? Where the metalwork is laid bare by
the paint and plaster having taken it off then these areas of metal may be
darkened with gun metal cleaner.
The results of this fantastic
restoration can be seem below. Compare these images with those on the previous
page. Finally this helmet has been given the care and respect it deserves.
Copyright 2007 Ironcrown & Lerenfort.
