Big Red's Battle Blog RSS

Wartime Shortages of Brass and the M-1 Helmet 1942 - 1943 Brass shortage and it's affect on the M-1 helmet

Anatomy of the M-2 Helmet chin strap January 1942 - Fall 1943 This 1-Point Lesson gives you a quick "what you need to know" about the M-2 Helmet airborne chinstrap.

There are a lot of period photographs showing complicated solutions used by American Paratroops to keep their helmets from separating from their liner during a jump. Can you identify one of the simplest solutions they used?

Airborne Modified M-1 Helmets Airborne field modifications were performed to the M-1 helmet to prevent either the helmet becoming separated from the liner or from separating from the wearer's head during a jump.

What does "Rigger Modified" mean to the modern day M-1 helmet collector, the modern day seller and what did it mean during WWII? First off “Rigger Modified” excludes any variations of the M-1 helmet that were not actually modified by GIs in the field for the purpose of adapting the helmet for a need other than the need of the infantry soldier it was specifically designed for. This leaves two well-documented field “Rigger Modified” versions with an argument for a third.