Hi all.

I was hoping someone can answer this question. I've noticed that the M1 helmet used by U.S. paratroopers in Normandy differs from the standard infantry M1 helmet in that the chin strap is the shape of an inverted Y with a chin cup. But in many photos of airborne troops from the 101st and 82nd, I see they are wearing the normal style chin straps... were the Y shaped ones standard? If do, did the individual soldiers often replace these with standard straps?

My second question is if the 82nd had any unit-specific insignia painted on the side of their helmets like the 101st did?

Thanks!

I believe the glider infantry (airborne) wore standard infantry uniforms with their respective airborne divisional insignias.

Thanks. Yes, I believe so. I think the paratroopers had the Y-strap M1s, but in photos of units like 2nd battalion 506th PIR who jumped into normandy there seem to be few who are wrsring those, they all seem to have standard helmets

82nd did not have the playing card insignia painted on like the 101 did,correct. The jumpers had the special chinstraps but not the glider Inf.
Once the paras got on the ground,depending on how long they were in combat,they tended to modify the chin straps,as these were only needed to prevent helmets slipping off while jumping. For example ,the 504PIR ,my old unit,jumped into Holland but stayed there for about 2 months in the line before they were relieved for reconstitution and training prior to the Ardennes battles so most of the jump stuff was discarded way before then and they were still under-equipped when they were hastily deployed to Belgium in Dec.
HTH
J

Thank you jrutman for the info, it's much appreciated. And my respect to you for bring a former member of the 504th. The heritage and dedication of the Airborne is truly inspiring.

We were still using those helmets when I went through Airborne school in 1973
The special airborne straps with the chin cups were mounted to the helmet liner. They were an addition to the normal straps that were mounted to the steel helmet itself. So we had two sets of straps, the standard one and the secondary one with the chin cup. Both together were needed to keep the helmet on our heads during the parachute's opening shock.

The leather chin strap could also be unbuckled from both ends of the helmet liner's Y-straps, leaving just the neck strap attached to the bails on the M1C (M2) helmet. The ends of the neck strap were permanently sewn (in WWII) to the M1C helmet bails, and the Y-straps (called "inverted A straps" on the documentation of the day) were riveted into the helmet liner. The neck straps sewn to the helmet on the parachutist version had extensions with press studs (snaps) that were fitted to snaps riveted in the liner.

These little extensions were intended to keep the liner and helmet fastened together during the jump.

So, in some photos, the trooper could be wearing the parachutist helmet liner with the M1C (M2) "steel pot," but because the leather chin strap has been removed, it might appear like a standard infantryman's helmet.

Alternatively, in some photos that Y-straps could appear to be attached to the neck strap creating an optical illusion of some weird, non-standard system. The ends of the neck strap in later airborne operations were threaded through the small opening in the "point" of the Y-straps (and then fastened under the chin), and if the leather chin strap has been removed, and the neck straps have been pulled up and over the rear brim of the M1C (M2), the mess of straps on the sides can look very odd.

In short, there were only two helmets - the standard M1 infantryman's helmet and the M1C (or M2) parachutist helmet. With the exception of the neck strap extensions, the "steel pot" portion was identical on both, only the liner was really different.

(The M1C was basically just renamed M2. There was technically a revised standard, but this change later reverted back to the original standard, and the difference, the neck strap loops, being invisible for most modeling purposes.)

The canvas "skeleton" chin strap for the parachutist helmet was introduced in the spring of 1944 and was used by some troopers ca. Operation Varsity and later. But the original leather chin strap was used, too, through the end of the war.