Camouflage American Brodie Helmets

Hi Mike,
I believe that the camo and unit painted helmets are post war, the unit insignia was not designated for most of the divisions until after the war was over and it is generaly believed that these helmets were painted for parades on the soldier's return. It might be noted that not all soldiers got a homecoming parade, as with all conflicts, the novelty wears off fast for the public at home and only the first returning soldiers got the parade, but those who returned later were forgotten (with the exception of the Uiet Nam war where hardly any returning soldier was publicly welcomed). One reason there are so many painted helmets around, is that these woere thee ones saved. While several period photos exsist showing German camo helmets, I think that a good number of the ones on the market are also post war souvenirs. That being said, a US tunic with a divisional patch (or Army Corps) should also be considered post war as well.
Best wishes
Gus (who doesn't know what he is talking about and can not stay on topic)
 
Hi Mike:

I agree with Gus. IMO, any camouflaged M1917 U.S. helmet should be regarded as postwar abstract art. Many are quite beautiful, and I would love to own a legitimate piece. However, there has also been a market for faking these since the 1970s.

The only variation from the regulation olive drab (army) or forest green (marine corps) helmets I would accept as wartime legitimate is the EGA (Eagle, Globe, Anchor) device found on some USMC helmets. Even this has been heavily faked.

As with the camo Stahlhelm, it's extremely difficult to judge if the paint job is pre November 1918 or 1919 - 2006.

Chas.
 
As an international helmet collector I've managed to gather just about every book on the subject, and I've collected helmets for about 25 years (since I was 12). I'm also friends with a lot of other helmet collectors.

I spoke with Chris Armold about these two topics. BTW...he talks about the camo patterns and unit painted helmets in his DVD based on his book Steelpots. You can get more info at Steelpots.com, and Chris will be at SOS. Anyone going I'll be happy to introduce you.

My feeling, and this is backed by what Chris had to say and is mentioned in Bashford Dean's book, is that probably a lot of the divisional insignia was likely painted on the boat ride home. Not all of the US Divisions in France even made it to the front by the time the war ended. The soldiers may have been painting the insignia on the helmets for parades and so forth AFTER the fighting stopped.

There was supposedly a cottage industry where you could have your helmet painted in Brest, France (or battle damaged). The American Army made it official that each soldier could keep the uniform and this included the helmet, thus many soldiers probably added things like camo and divisional patches.

As for the anchor...this was something my grandfather use to ask me about. He always wanted one of those helmets and I regret not getting him one before he passed away. BUT as I told him over and over, there is no documentation to support that the Marines ever wore the EGA in the trenches officially. While it possible that the devices were put on the helmets by individual soldiers the numbers would be very small. These would also HAVE to be the cap badges. No special badges for helmets were produced during WWI. And the number of Marines to head to France wasn't that large either. So factor these things together and I'd bet money that most examples are faked.

Now the Marines did use the EGA on helmets AFTER WWI. BUT this appears to only to have been done officially on the 1917-A1 helmet. This is the modified helmet that features the later style liner. The 1917-A1 used the Model 5A four pad liner system, and was produced up until 1941. I have two 1917-A1 helmets and neither has the badge. One was on eBay in December and it went for $700+. Chris and others agreed it was probably one of the real ones. Very nice piece.

Finally I'll add every source I've come across says that the Marines used the EGA in places like San Diego and Pearl Harbor for the guards at the large naval bases, and that these helmets never made it to places like Wake Island or the Philippines.
 
peter_suciu said:
While it possible that the devices were put on the helmets by individual soldiers the numbers would be very small.
Click to expand...
Peter speaks the truth. Below are two scans from Warren R. Jackson's memoir, His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France. Of the twelve officers pictured, only Lt. Shinkle (far right) is wearing an EGA.

2EGA.jpg


Private Marsh with EGA on his helmet:

1EGA.jpg


Peter, I would value your opinion on this. I regard it to be legitimate (though whether it saw France is impossible to say). The forest green color is more accurately represented in the close-up picture of the EGA. The shell is marked ZC186.

PICT0523.jpg


PICT0526.jpg


PICT0527.jpg


PICT0528.jpg
 
Here is an interesting Web site on the subject:
http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/helmega.html

According to that site the Marines wore British-produced helmets. I can neither confirm nor deny this, but I will ask Chris Armold if he had heard anything on the matter.

His example:
http://www.steelpots.com/sppages/m1917a1ega.htm

Finally, I would want to take a closer look at the EGA. Compare it to this cap version:
http://www.agmohio.com/items/9090430.htm

But the one on the helmet looks good as it has the longitude and latitude lines. And the backing looks right. Again, these would have to be cap badges. Anything welded or mounted to a helmet just wouldn't be right.

VERY nice helmet btw. It has the look of one of those rare ones, and I'd love to have it in my collection. Whether it was done in the trenches or on the boat ride home I don't know. Does the hole look punched or drilled?
 
peter_suciu said:
Does the hole look punched or drilled?
Click to expand...
Hi Peter:

I have never attempted to remove the EGA to find out. You may think me silly, but it has remained undisturbed for countless years and I have no desire to mess with it.

Below is a profile view. As you can see, it really hugs the surface.

PICT0529.jpg


Finally, a macro shot of the globe with its lines of latitude and longitude. I believe the diagonal represents the rotational axis.

PICT0530.jpg


Thanks for posting the links. The debate is an interesting one.

Chas.
 
Hi Chas--
I wouldn't remove the badge either. Sorry for even suggesting a thing.

The way the badge is on there looks good, and that does look like a proper WWI era cap badge. Thus I believe it is possible that the marine added it on in the field.

Very nice helmet again!
 
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