US WW1 M1917 helmet - 77th Infantry Division

A common mistake people make is to think I have too many helmets. Just to be clear, if you collect militaria, you can never have too many helmets.

This is a British made Brodie helmet used by the American 77th Infantry Division in World War 1.

The 77th Infantry Division (nicknamed the "Metropolitan Division” or “Times Square Division” because many of the soldiers came from New York City) were the first American division to arrive in France in spring 1918. They fought in the Meuse–Argonne campaign and fought during the breakthrough of the the Hindenburg line in October 1918. It was during this battle that the "lost battalion" incident occured when 9 companies of the 77th division became isolated behind enemy lines with no supplies, food or water for 6 days. Despite this, they held their ground and caused enough of a distraction for other Allied units to break through the German lines, which forced the Germans to retreat.