Lessons in Reenacting | Ep. 7 | Helmets

so so the 20th century was a time of major technological advancement for warfare machine guns tanks fighter planes and bomber planes the way that wars were waged was flipped on its head this brought new questions into play how do we protect our fighting men in world war 1 reports from the battlefield were showing a concerningly large amount of head injuries to combat this army started to design combat helmets to protect the heads of soldiers from shrapnel of explosive shells in world war one the us military was primarily using the british helmet model the brody helmet however between the world wars the us military was working to engineer their own unique helmet trials and testing would go all the way into the late 1930s while in the meantime they would upgrade their current helmets in use [Music] in the very early stages of world war ii before and immediately after u.s involvement the u.s military was using a modified version of the world war one m1917 helmet designated as the m1917a1 or the kelly transitional helmet these were an improvement on the world war one helmet changing from a tar canvas liner with a leather chin strap to a leather liner with a canvas chin strap these helmets would not seem much combat with the us military being switched out relatively quickly once the us officially gets involved with the war however for impressions pre pearl harbor the philippine invasion or early stateside training these helmets would be a great addition to your collection you can find these helmets being made for reenactors on the prairie flower leather company website by april of 1941 the military had approved and began production on a new helmet design although production was not large scale until after the us went to war this helmet would become iconic and synonymous with the u.s servicemen for decades to come designated as the m1 helmet it was the us military's first official unique helmet featuring a new two shell system meaning that the liner system is separate to the shell itself this makes the helmet useful for more than just protecting your head such as a wash basin for when you're doing your hygienic routine and even documentation of gi's using their helmets to cook food although this is strongly advised against throughout the war the helmet saw many design changes particularly in the helmet's liner the liner went through three specific changes during the helmet's development helmet liners were manufactured by 11 notable companies the first liners manufactured for the m1 were known as fiber liners however are better known today by their nickname the holly liner produced from 1941 to 1942 these liners were manufactured by the holley products company and general fiber products their production life didn't last very long primarily because of the material used to manufacture them they were made out of something similar to cardboard and because of this fell apart relatively quickly in human climates this forced them to manufacture a new liner for their helmets the next generation of liners would be developed with a new method using strips of cotton cloth soaked in resin they would then subject them to pressure in a liner mold while many factories needed to be fitted with the proper machinery to make these liners two companies were commissioned to manufacture a stand-in until large-scale production was ready this is where low-pressure liners come into play low pressure liners were a temporary manufacturer being made by saint claire and the hood rubber company which can usually be identified by an ink stamp found in the liner while solving the issue of humid environments they were incredibly fragile making these helmet liners very scarce today these liners were manufactured from 1942 to 1943 when they were replaced with the final variation the high pressure liner was the most common helmet liner seen from mid-war to the end of the war these liners not only could handle the elements well but they were extremely durable compared to their low pressure counterparts these high pressure liners were manufactured by seven different companies which could be identified from an imprint inland mine safety appliances semen paper company international molded plastics capac firestone and westinghouse overall about 44 million high pressure helmet liners were manufactured with westinghouse having made over half of them attached to the liner is a leather strap that could be used as a chin strap when wearing just your liner though more popularly these were worn over top of the helmet's rim as a way of retaining the two parts together it was not uncommon to see men without the strap altogether the liner's webbing features an adjustable suspension system an adjustable sweatband that can be removed as well as a nape strap for your helmet early liners were fitted with rayon canvas however it would be switched pretty early on with khaki cotton herringbone 12. the overall design of the webbing suspension would remain the same until the 1960s moving from the liner of the helmet to the steel pot itself the helmet was made out of a steel that was combined with manganese in order to make the helmet more malleable it was painted an od color that would change as the war progressed along with a cork texturing for the majority of the war they featured a stainless steel rim as well as a fixed chin strap loop being welded onto the shell the seam of the rim could be found at the front of the helmet all these indicators show a helmet that was manufactured anywhere from 1941 to 1944. by late 1944 some considerable changes were being made to the helmet the military had a consistent issue with the chinstrap bale snapping off to combat this they started giving their helmets flexible bales that swivel the rim was changed from stainless steel to manganese steel and by 1945 the rim seam was moved to the back of the helmet [Music] there were three particular companies that manufactured m1 helmets the mccord radiator company schluter manufacturing and parish manufacturing however the two important ones are mccord and schluter mccord radiator company would make the majority of steel pots having manufactured over 20 million during the war schluter would make about 2 million making their helmets a little harder to come across however you can typically distinguish a mccord helmet from a schluter helmet by the helmet's shape the rim of the mccord helmet features more of a curve compared to the schluter you can also find an s-stamp on the inside of the schluter helmet throughout the war the military would use od3-colored chin straps over time there were minor changes made particularly to the shape of the chin strap buckle however seeing the chin strap used properly was not as common of an occurrence in theater chin straps were seen either undone hanging from the helmet or done up onto the back of the helmet one of the major concerns of the helmet was the distinct shape that it had especially the shine to it when wet to combat this you would see the issuing of things like helmet nets to troops there was a wide array of nets issued to u.s soldiers it is important for you to do your own research on the division you are portraying as the types of nets issued varied there's plenty of photos footage and other forms of documentation online for you to look at [Music] i'm getting coins for my country at the hollywood canteen when starting off in the hobby having an original m1 helmet is not an absolute necessity to have within your first year although one should most definitely be acquired down the road these helmets are still very easy to find and acquire for an affordable price though sometimes they need some refurbishing work done on them post-world war ii helmets as well as reproductions can be found very frequently online and at surplus stores however many of these helmets require alterations to be made to bring them into the correct world war two specifications that means paint texture and chin straps post world war ii helmets are distinctly different from world war ii helmets using more of a p green color rather than the dark od of the world war ii variant and the sand texturing instead of cork the chin straps were an od-7 shade with a metal retainer rather than stitching the strap itself to the helmet certain reproductions also leave something to be desired although if you were to buy one at the front would be your best choice for a repro helmet all of these factors would need to be altered in order to give your helmet the correct appearance of a world war ii helmet whether it's converting a post-war helmet or restoring an original helmet there's a number of supplies you would need to do this fortunately there are companies that make reproduction helmet parts and other such items out of the websites the best site for helmets and helmet restoration is j murray inc 1944 they reproduce chin straps leather straps liner webbing they even sell cork and helmet paint in addition they sell refurbished helmets and even original ones in their issued state although they are not accepting restoration commissions at the time of release alexander and sons restoration is another fine alternative for commissions if you are not confident in doing it yourself other sites such as at the front sell helmet parts and refurbished helmets but j murray makes some of the best there are many symbols that are synonymous with the usgi during world war ii but the unmistakable silhouette of the m1 helmet has to be one of the most memorable without this innovative piece of equipment who knows how many more service men and women would have suffered fatal injuries if you want to learn more about the m1 helmet and its development as we could not fit everything into this video we strongly recommend you watch the documentary steel pots an hour-long film detailing the entirety of the us military's development of steel helmets with that being said we hope you enjoyed the video be sure to stay tuned for our future episodes and remember you're in the army now you're not behind the plow you'll never get rich while digging a ditch you're in the army now you're in the army now you're in the army now you'll never get rich on the salary which you get in the army now [Music]

Channel: The US GI Reenactor Guide

Views: 19,035

Keywords: WWII, World War II, World War 2, Second World War, WWII Reenacting, USGI, USGI Reenactor, Reenactor, Reenacting, reenactment, WWII America, Americans in WWII, M1 Helmet, Helmet, Steel Pot, Helmet Liner, JMurray, At the Front, Military History, History, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, D-Day, wwii, ww2, world war 2, world war ii, surplus, Restoration, Helmet Restoration

Id: a9Dljs83zew

Length: 11min 8sec (668 seconds)

Published: Thu May 05 2022