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Thanks for the photo's Jack, it's always nice to see the stamp marks on these helmets.

Hello Everyone, I’m new to this. I’ve got a few questions about a helmet I bought many years ago. It has a new liner (reproduction) but I’d like to be sure what the shell is. I found it in the US. It seems to be a First World War Brodie. Reading this forum was very helpful. There's a wealth of expertise here! So here’s what I noticed: • It has the split pins to attach chin strap and the liner, with soldered hoops. The hoops came with the helmet. • The paint looks very original, with brush marks, and some attempt at camouflage. It has the sandy finish. • A stamping appears on the inner rim. It seems to be 118 and then it has a large I with a 4 and another large I. I hope the pictures show what I mean. • The brown felt pad at the top seems to have a rubber donut under it, as far as my prying fingers can tell, which would make it 1917 or later, I think? Any advice is most gratefully accepted. Best wishes, Allan

Can you tell me Allan were the seam edge meets is it overlapped or butt jointed, if it's overlapped then it's British for sure. It's possible that the letter marks are poorly stamped and are hard to see now with paint covering them, trouble is the Americans also used spilt rivets for a time I've seen helmets with American stamp marks and split rivets on their M1917 helmets, it's a nice looking helmet and in good condition.

Thanks so much, Leon21. This is very helpful. I thought the stamps might possibly be rather poorly executed HS stamps, which would be Hadfield of Sheffield, but it's hard to tell what they are! I've looked at them in various lights with magnifying glasses, and it still seems uncertain. The second stamping, between the two longer lines, might even be a blunt WD arrow, if I allow my imagination some free reign.... Thanks again for all your help. It's much appreciated.

Welcome to the forum Allan, the helmet is most likely British made but the stamp marks are unknown, it's possible that this shell was refurbished into the M1917A1 helmet commonly referred to as the Kelly helmet at some stage in the past. Between 1932 and 1936 the American M1917 and the British MK1 helmets were modified with a new leather liner and web chinstraps and used by the American Army until the new M1 helmet was introduced in 1941. The M1917A1 helmets saw service at Pearl Harbour, and Wake Island and the Philippines. The helmets were painted a sandy colour for the Army and blue for the Navy.

Many thanks to Clueless Tommy and to Fritz for your very helpful replies. I've had a look at the list of makers and tried to match them to the stampings on the helmet rim, but it's not easy to make any sort of match. I may have to take some sandpaper to it and see if that reveals anything clearer - although I think that's a last ditch remedy. Truly, this is a fascinating hobby! Best wishes, Allan

Thanks, The one on the right in the picture above is a British mark II marked: RO & CO EF 1940 on the shell TTC II 1940 on liner The one on the left above is an American M1917 marked: UC 304 Regards, Jack

Looking good Jack, what are the dates and makers marks of your Brodie helmets ?

I decided that I would try and stain one first, but the stem and base went different colours. Despite reapplying on the base multiple times to get it as dark as the stem it didn’t, so gave up and went with paint. I went with white paint first, but didn’t really like that so painted it black looks quite good in my opinion so I think they shall all end up this way. Even if I later decide that another colour would be better it was only 43p per stand or I could sand them and start again. All in all it was cheap, I think they look decent and was a good excuse to not do other work I actually had to do, so a good job all round. Thanks for all the help and ideas, Regards Jack 1st pic: Making sure all the stands work 2nd: The “final” look

Hello, I believe your shell is British made as it uses the split rivets to hold on the chin strap lugs. These proved easy to break so the Americans used a different type on their 1917 helmets. So it could be that this was a British made helmet given to the Americans soon after their entry to the war or a British helmet that ended up in America. I have attached a picture of the the rivet on a shell that is definitely American. I also new to this so you may want to wait for others to comment. If you haven’t read it already there is a thread on makers marks in the forum that lists British, commonwealth and American stamps that you may want to look at, I’ll try to work out how to link it in a minute. Regards, Jack

Helmet liner sets are being custom-made in US. The helmet shell looks like original paintwork, and probably a US maker for use with U.S.Army during WW1 or possibly later, second type with rim. The U.S. Army used this type till around end of 1941 (Pearl Harbour etc.) until the new helmet was rapidly introduced.