U.S. M-2 Paratrooper Helmet named to PFC Armand Beauchamp, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne
This is an American Model 2 paratrooper helmet worn by PFC Armand R. Beauchamp during his service in World War II (1939-1945). A member of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, Beauchamp was a veteran of the D-Day and Market Garden parachute drops. His helmet, featured here, is one of the limited M-2 helmets produced during WWII. The steel shell exhibits a rough-textured olive drab paint finish (paint mixed with cork) covered in a medium weave cloth camouflage netting. On either side a hand painted spade insignia with a six o'clock (below the spade) tic mark is visible. This insignia signifies the tactical markings utilized by the 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, to identify one another once on the ground.1 Beauchamp’s M-2 appears to be in the same paint configuration he used during his combat jump on D-Day. One distinguishing feature of this helmet, though, is the “D” ring chinstrap loops on either side. These loops, along with a new chinstrap design that allowed the shell to be directly snapped to the liner, defined the Model 2 paratrooper helmet, which the U.S. Army introduced in June 1942.2
With the introduction of the M-2, the Army saw a need to modify the helmet liner to suit the paratrooper’s needs. Existing stocks of the M-1 liner were utilized with the addition of an inverted “A” strap and leather chin cup to stabilize the helmet, a job that the original could not perform.3 The Inland Manufacturing Division of General Motors, who produced the first modified plastic paratrooper liners, manufactured this particular helmet liner.4 On each side Beauchamp mimicked the tactical shell insignia of the spade and six o’clock tic mark. The interior includes a light khaki cotton twill suspension, leather sweatband, and coated steel “A” washers. Beauchamp also wrote his Army Serial Number, “18089906,” and last name in white paint along the inner right edge.
Another intriguing aspect of this helmet is the remnants of masking tape located on the front and back of the interior liner. Many American paratroopers placed masking tape along the front and back of their helmets for further security. Even with the newly modified liner, parts of the M-2 helmet continued to move around or loosen during a jump, so placing masking take around the front and back edges provided an increase in stability. Beauchamp likely added this masking tape prior to the D-Day invasion.5
• For more information regarding the 101st tactical insignia, see the article entitled "The Tactical Helmet Insignia of the 101st Airborne Division, WWII."
Historical Context
PFC Armand R. Beauchamp was a member of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR. He jumped in both the Normandy and Market Garden Airborne Operations of World War II. Beauchamp was killed in action in Opheusden, Holland, on the night of 6/7 October 1944, when a mortar round scored a near direct hit on his foxhole. The mortar round also wounded his best friend, Roy Zerbe, who later underwent over forty reconstructive surgeries. Beauchamp's body was recovered from the dyke three days later by his company commander and others. Equipment that Beauchamp left behind, including his helmet, was collected and stored at a local barn-like building that was used for a short while as a field hospital. Once the Allies retreated from Market Garden, this terrain was never part of a military campaign for the rest of the war and the Army never recovered all the equipment that remained in the barn.
This helmet was picked up after the war by Ben Overhand, who as a young boy accumulated American equipment and souvenirs for years, making him a well-known and respected Dutch collector. Robert Hoffman, a collector of German SS militaria, obtained the helmet directly from Overhand and traded it to Kelly Hicks in 2001. Hicks later contacted Roy Zerbe and Dick Winters (former commander of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne) about Beauchamp. Both said he was a handsome and dashing guy (an amateur actor from New Mexico) who made it all the way from Camp Toccoa through all the tough fighting of World War II.6
In April 2010 the Wilson History and Research staff visited the gravesite of PFC Armand R. Beauchamp at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten. Accompanying the staff was the WHRC founder, Robby Wilson, who wished to visit the site to pay respects to the original owner of this American M-2 helmet currently in the WHRC collection. PFC Beauchamp was laid to rest in the Netherlands American Cemetery 65 years prior to the WHRC visit. Here is a brief article about the event.
| United States | World War II |
| Infantry Helmet | 1942 — 1943 |
| McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company | |
| USH-308-1209 | |
