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WWII British Helmet -
This is a British Army helmet. As issued during World War Two.
The steel, Mark I helmet in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in the U.S. was a steel combat helmet
designed and patented in 1915 by the Briton John L. Brodie. Colloquially, it was also called the
shrapnel helmet or Tommy helmet, and in the United States known as a doughboy.
During the first year of World War I, none of the combatants offered steel helmets to their
troops. The soldiers of most nations went into battle wearing simple cloth caps that offered
virtually no protection from modern weapons. The need to protect against the large number of
injuries witnessed gave birth to this helmet.
The design is very simple and was not the most effective but provided better protection than a
cloth cap. The liner was attached to a ring that was riveted to the helmet. The standard Army
color was green. The sample shown here is white. It was probably re-issue to the civil defense
forces or painted after the war.
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Most modern military helmets saw their birth during World War One. The need to address the
multitude of head wounds in the trenches was the foundation for the widespread development
and deployment of helmets.
This section discusses several of the military helmets of the world.
The helmets from various armies came in a variety of designs. There were a large number
of different types developed. In many cases the use of the spilled over into non-military
applications such as police and civil defense. most of the helmets during WWI and WWII were
constructed of a combination of metal and leather.
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The author is not aware that this type of headgear is currently being
reproduced.
However, there is no guarantee that it is not. in many cases
it is becoming more difficult to be able to tell the fake ones from the real ones because
the quality of the reproductions is improving. The collector must become familiarized with
the construction style and materials employed in the manufacturing of this headgear.
Attention to the details is critical in order to be able to determine the authenticity of
the collectible.
If you have an interest is seeing other British military helmets, you can do so by
going to our British Military headgear
identification guide. Where we cover multiple pieces.
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