Original Item: Only One Available. We just received this from the family of a deceased WWII Airborne Paratrooper as a private purchase. It is a Paratrooper Training Football helmet, manufactured by Riddell, a well-known helmet manufacturer, who still makes football helmets to this day.

During the earliest days of WWII paratroopers, Riddell designed a modified football helmet with front and rear leather protection, designed to keep twigs and branches away from the neck of the paratrooper. However supplies apparently ran short, so football helmets were often used in their place. This is one such helmet, and was brought home by the owner after the war. While it does not conform to the training version, with the provenance we have, we are fairly certain it was used for paratrooper training during early WWII.  The liner indicates that it is a size 7 helmet.

A very interesting early WWII helmet, ready to research and display!