Pub Talk - Leather Liner Chin Strap VI “Brown sheep of the family”

For years, the "brown buckle" chin strap has intrigued M-1 helmet collectors because it does not fit within the accepted standard of the majority of buckles of the same design and manufacture and is relatively scarce.

This removable chin strap assembly is of early design and matches all the features of a 1942–1943 manufactured right-angle cam lever flip chin strap, with only one exception: the wedge buckle hardware has been painted brown as opposed to the standard olive drab green.

How could a variation like this be possible? In truth, the environment surrounding liner development in mid-to-late 1942 not only makes variations like this possible but highly probable. In early 1942, responsibility for the development of the M-1 liner was transferred from the Ordnance Department to the Quartermaster Corps. In February, the Office of The Quartermaster General (OQMG) assigned procurement responsibility to the Chicago Quartermaster Depot (CQMD), with instructions to push for plastic liners to be in heavy production by May.

In an attempt to achieve early production, the OQMG made each liner manufacturing firm a “prime contractor,” which meant that each firm would be responsible for the subcontracting and assembly of all the components necessary to make a complete liner. As the CQMD confronted obstacles to production, they approved all manner of variations and material substitutions if doing so would allow a firm to deliver liners on or before their contracted due date.

The ability to obtain paint with uniform ingredients and consistency in color and performance was an unexpected obstacle. Suppliers' inability to guarantee access to the same ingredients from batch to batch impacted all aspects of liner production. The CQMD would have viewed the use of a different paint color as a negligible defect at best, as it would not affect the function of a chinstrap buckle in any way. If a firm had requested a variance to use brown for the wedge buckle on an order of leather chinstraps instead of the recommended olive drab, the CQMD would have granted it without hesitation.

To date, there has been no forthcoming documentation that can shed light on this variant; however, empirical evidence can aid in narrowing its origin. The attributes of the sum of this chinstrap’s parts place its manufacture between 1942 and 1943. Collectors of M-1 helmets first noticed this variant in association with fibre liners, and shortly after, they also found examples of St. Clair liners and Inland liners modified for parachutist use. What do these three types of liners have in common?

In April 1942, the CQMD issued a contract to McCord Radiator & Mfg. Co. to supply and install suspensions in St. Clair liner bodies, in addition to an open order for fibre liners released earlier that March. Later that fall, St. Clair sought assistance from McCord through a subcontract to once again supply and install suspensions in their liner bodies. 

In late September 1942, as high-pressure firms eased into full production, Inland produced 75,000 liners over their required commitment. The CQMD delivered these liners to McCord in October, along with a contract to modify them for parachutist use. By mid-November 1942, McCord had concluded all liner activities, and by December, Ordnance was considering the possibility of re-tasking the liner assembly space to double helmet body production.

Quartermaster records indicate four companies were sub-contractors for wedge buckles during this period: Dowst Mfg. Co., North & Judd, Scoville Mfg. Co., and Oakville Co. Although McCord had previous hardware dealings with North & Judd, the lack of an anchor stamp inside the flip may exclude them, leaving Dowst, Scoville, or Oakville as possible sources.

Based on my current understanding and educated guesses, I believe that McCord Radiator, as the prime contractor, issued a sub-contract for chinstraps to Dowst Mfg. Co., Scoville Mfg. Co., or Oakville Co. For reasons currently unknown, the Chicago Quartermaster Depot granted a variance to paint the buckle brown instead of olive drab, and sometime in the fall of 1942, McCord outfitted liner bodies from General Fibre, Hawley, St. Clair, and Inland Mfg. with this chin strap variant.