AMERICAN WWI M1917 DOUGHBOY HELMET WITH LINER AND CHINSTRAP

This is an original WWI US M1917 Brodie steel helmet.  It has its original paint and is textured.  Comes complete with liner and chin strap.

As you can see if the photograph there are handwritten lettering around the edge of the helmet’s dome. We are unsure what they stand for as not all letters are readable.  What we can make out is CHAMPALS (could be the district of Champagne)   L (with arrow on top) R 304H  ARB F.VO. EVU (or W). Making this a one of a kind helmet.

In 1917, when the Americans joined the Great War, they did not have their own helmets. They were issued by the British, 400,000 helmets to use at the stat of the war.  The adoption of a helmet by the French, British and German armies convinced the US Army that a helmet was needed as a standard piece of equipment. This became the M1917.   The Americans were initially issued with around 400,000 British MK1 helmets.  The American M1917 was almost identical to the British MK.I helmet. 

The M1917 differed slightly in its lining detail, and exhibited US manufacture markings.