Brain Buckets

The tradition for soldiers to wear helmets to protect their heads in battle has a history stretching back millennia, as we can tell by looking at ancient carvings such as that at the palace of Ninevah in Assyria, now northern Iraq. Dating back to around 650 BC, foot soldiers are shown wearing body armour and conical-shaped helmets. The Roman army and those of other ancient cultures, including Greece and Egypt, wore helmets of distinctive design. For over 2,000 years, soldiers going into battle wore helmets, up to and including the 17th century. Then, from around that point on, the wearing of helmets, apart from ceremonial roles, falls into a gradual decline.

Helmet design and manufacture
Throughout the conflicts of the 18th century, such as the Seven Years War and American War of Independence, and into the 19th century, armies continued to eschew wearing helmets, apart from cavalry regiments such as the French Cuirassiers. This period saw the Napoleonic, Franco-Prussian, and Crimean Wars as examples of deficiencies in helmets. Into the 20th century, with automatic weapons and powerful artillery, there is still no move to re-introduce head protection in war.
In 1916, armies finally began to issue steel helmets to troops, by which time WWI was two years into the fighting and the incidence of head wounds had increased due to air bursts by shells, and snipers. The French army had already started to redress the problem and designed the first modern steel helmet, called the Adrian casque M15, which featured a peak extending forward over the brow and a comb over the crest over the crown of the skull. The design is credited to Intendant-General Louis August Adrian and required 70 process steps in production. Millions were produced and worn by all ranks and copied by many countries including Russia, Belgium, and Greece.
In 2020, the journal Public Library of Science conducted trials of the design against British and German helmets of the period and concluded it was the best. When Winston Churchill was serving with the Grenadier Guards on the Western Front in December 1915, he was presented with an Adrian helmet by French General Émile Fayolle, who said the design was superior to the British helmet. The finding by PLOS only confirmed what had been said over a century earlier.

Manufactured in their millions
The British army adopted a style known as the Brodie. The name came from the designer, a Latvian-born businessman called Braude, which was anglicised to John Leopold Brodie. The first examples were produced in 1915 and issued in the same year, with the troops referring to them as “tin hats” and “salatschussel” (salad bowl) by the Germans. Made from a one-piece pressing, the first examples were made using mild steel, but an improved type, using manganese steel, was quickly turned out, which afforded better protection.
When Portugal entered the war in 1916, they adopted a version of the Brodie with a scalloped finish, which they called the M1916. In 1917, the US Army purchased 400,000 Brodie helmets, and a licence to produce them in American factories was granted. By the end of the war, some 2.7 million helmets, known as the M1917, had been turned out. The design would be modified in 1934, becoming the M1917A1, and went into production in 1941, with over 900,000 manufactured by the time America entered WWII.
The Brodie helmet was also used by Commonwealth and Dominion countries, including Australia and Canada. The design influenced the style used by Britain during WWII, which, while looking similar, was different. This design was worn in all theatres of war from Europe to the Far East, and North Africa. When the British army raised the airborne forces, a special helmet was developed for them and this, too, has become sought after by collectors and re-enactors.
Another development to come from the standard infantry helmet was a design known as the Civilian Protective Helmet, sold to the public for five shillings and sixpence (27.5p), the equivalent of £16 in modern terms. Designed by a three-man team that included Derman Christopherson and Hugh Cairns, it came to be known as the Zuckerman, after the third man. Produced between 1940 and 1942, these helmets were issued to some emergency services such as ARP and Wardens. At least nine companies produced these helmets, which make them quite common finds for collectors who look for the stamps of the manufacturing factories, including the Austin Motor Company, Pressed Steel Company, and Vauxhall Motor Company. The company stamp of ‘PCH’ appearing on some helmets has not yet been identified.
In 1916, units of the German army received the first issue of a new helmet, known as the Stahlhelm (steel helmet). It had a distinctive shape that has gone on to become an iconic symbol of German militarism. Designed by Dr Friedrich Schwerd, it was a functional and practical helmet, known as the Model 1916, which also influenced many copies. Germany’s allies in both world wars wore helmets that were either supplied directly or manufactured in home factories. Its popularity was such that countries from China to Poland also issued similar designs. The German fire service wore an example, and the M1935 version served as the basis for the design developed for Fallschirmjager (parachute) troops.
When America entered WWII in December 1941, its troops were wearing a style of helmet known as the M1917A1, which was based on the British type from WWI. Unlike Britain, France, and Germany, the American army did not have its own distinctive design that made them distinguishable. The type now recognisable from WWII, known as the M1, was beginning to be produced in 1941, and from 1942 was standard issue. A total of more than 22.36 million were produced by the end of the war, including a version for airborne troops, and various types along the same design were used until 1985. During that time, they were used in Vietnam and other conflicts by dozens of overseas armies.

Collectable militaria
Despite having been turned out in their millions, military helmets are very collectable items to militaria enthusiasts who seek out the unusual types and variants, including the Russian Ssh-36, Italian M-33, and Japanese Type 90 designs. These relics are now valuable and often fetch high prices at auctions or militaria fairs, reflected by condition and rarity. Re-enactors like to wear the correct helmet for the period and unit they are depicting, to get things as authentic as possible. If they are unable to obtain the original for display, they can resort to replicas that are available from companies which also supply film props.
Old-style steel helmets are still in service with some armies, but the trend with larger armies, such as France, America, Britain, and Israel, is towards either Kevlar or ballistic nylon. The weight is about the same as some original steel helmet designs, but the new helmets offer better protection for the modern soldier, such as the British Vertus Mk 7 helmet which weighs 1kg (35oz), down from the 1.5kg of the earlier designs. Weight for weight, they offer better protection against small arms fire and splinters than the steel helmets. These modern designs also have fittings to allow night vision equipment or cameras to be mounted.
For re-enactors, steel helmets are very much part of the display, and even vehicle owners wear them when at shows or taking part in convoy road runs. For collectors, they may be bulky, but the evolution of shape and the new materials from which they are made makes them such an interesting item. Factor in new versions and changes to designs, such as face shields and integrated headsets for communication, and collectors will never run short of items to acquire.