Front Seam, Fixed Bale, M1 Combat Helmet with Hawley Liner

The exterior of the M1 combat helmet shells displays typical scratches and scuffs from wear in the combat theater, with a few spots of paint loss and attendant areas of surface rust, but the cork infused olive drab paint is largely intact. The helmet shell has two fixed bales, one of which became detached at some point and was re-affixed with what appears to have been glue (it was the unfortunate tendency of the fixed bales on early M1 helmets to detach which led to a re-design of the helmet strap fixtures and the introduction of the swivel bales in 1943). The full fabric chin strap is present across the rear of the helmet. The name of “Sousa” is written inside of the helmet shell. The fabric Hawley liner has a typical small crack on one side, but the liner is very clean and intact. Overall the helmet set is a very good example of an early war M1 combat helmet with a correspondingly early Hawley liner.