WWII Japanese Army Helmet -
The Imperial Japanese Army was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1871 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of War, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Military (Army) Aviation, became the third agency with oversight over the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad-hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the minister of war, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the inspector general of military aviation, and the inspector general of military training.
The item featured here is a Japanese Army helmet. As issued during World War Two.
This is a model 1942. Of steel construction. The helmet retains most of the original paint.
A five point metal star is located in the front. It is secured to the helmet using metal
prongs.
The helmet has the original leather liner. Composed of three sections with two fingers each.
A lace is employed to secure the ends of the fingers together. The liner is attached
to a metal band placed in the helmet. A canvis chin strap is tied to the "D" rings attached
to the liner band. The construction of the chin strap is reminiscent to the ones employed
during the Samurai warrior period.
The neckguard of the helmet has a couple of markings stamped on it. In addition, a character has
been applied with white paint in the same area. This normally indicates the size of the helmet.
Japanese military helmets are more scarce because many of them were destroyed during the last months
of the war as they were melted to produce bullets. The end of the war saw even further destruction
as they were tossed into the ocean, sent to other countries for use by their military forces or
melted.
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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