British Helmet - The Best Item For War Equipment Collectors

By Jan Peter










Among the most special types of helmet being used in combat is the British helmet and the most common type is the Brodie helmet, also called M1917 helmet in the U.S.; it was developed and trademarked in 1915 by John Leopold Brodie. Typically, there are many names for this combat British helmet sometimes it's known as Tommy helmet, Tin Hat, shrapnel helmet and it was known in the United states as doughboy helmet.

On the outbreak of World War I, most combatants do not have any steel helmet. A great deal of soldiers from various nations went into battle using just simple cloth cap that do not give any considerable protection from modern day weapons. Usually, German soldiers used their leather Pickelhaube that also has little protective worth.

As a result of the increasing number of fatal wounds that modern weapons inflicted on the French Army, it became clear that they needed to produce a modern steel helmet that is capable of guarding the troops from harm. In 1915, the first French helmet was launched and it's a bowl-shaped steel skullcap integrated under the cloth caps.

During this time, the British War Office also searched for the most suitable steel helmets. They requested The War Office Invention Department to gauge and overhaul the French helmet. Due to some flaws in the French design, a new style was patented by John L. Brodie in 1915. It was a British helmet made out of a single piece and it was pressed from a single thick sheet of steel giving the helmet with increased strength and durability.

The combat British helmet or Brodie helmet was similar to the helmets being used by infantry men in medieval times, also known as kettle hat or chapel-de-fer. It had a circular crown and created using steel materials, a leather strap. The style of the helmet is meant to shield the wearer's head and shoulders from the blast and fragmentation falling from above.

The bowl structure provides the much needed protection and resistance to projectiles. Nonetheless, the layout offered a much lesser protection on the lower parts of the neck and head compared to other helmet designs.




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