WW1 FRENCH ADRAIN HELMET VETRAN SERVICE PLATE-READ FULL ADD For Sale

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WW1 FRENCH ADRAIN HELMET VETRAN SERVICE PLATE-READ FULL ADD:
$79.99

TheAdrian helmet(French:Casque Adrian) was an influential design ofcombat helmetoriginally produced for theFrench ArmyduringWorld War I. Its original version, the M15, was the first standard helmet of the French Army and was designed when millions ofFrenchtroops were engaged intrench warfare, and head wounds from the fallingshrapnelgenerated byindirect firebecame a frequent cause of battlefield casualties. Introduced in 1915, it was the first modern steel helmet[1][2]and it served as the basic helmet of many armies well into the 1930s. Initially issued to infantry soldiers, in modified form they were also issued to cavalry and tank crews. A subsequent version, the M26, was used duringWorld War II.

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, soldiers in the French Army wore the standardkepicap, which provided no protection against injury. The early stages oftrench warfareproved that even basic protection of the head would result in a significantly lower mortality rate among front-line soldiers. By the beginning of 1915, a rudimentary steel skull-cap (calotte métallique,cervelière) was being issued to be worn under the kepi.[3]

Consequently, the French staff ordered development of a metal helmet that could protect soldiers from theshrapnelof explodingartilleryshells. Since soldiers in trenches were also vulnerable to shrapnel exploding above their heads, a deflector crest was added along the helmet's axis. Branch insignia in the form of a grenade for line infantry and cavalry, a bugle horn forchasseurs, crossed cannon for artillery, an anchor for colonial troops and a crescent for North African units was attached to the front.[4]Contrary to common misconception, the M15 helmet, and other Great War helmets, were not designed to protect the wearer from direct impact byrifleormachine gunbullets. The resulting headgear was credited to Intendant-GeneralLouis Auguste Adrian.[5]

The helmet adopted by the army was made ofmild steel[6]and weighed only 0.765kg (1lb 11.0oz)), which made it lighter and less protective than the contemporaryBritishBrodie helmetand theGermanStahlhelm.Orders were placed for the helmets in the spring of 1915, which started being issued by July. By September, all frontline troops in France were issued with the helmet.[7]The helmet was surprisingly complex to produce with seventy stages involved in its production, not including those required to prepare the metal. The slot for the badges and the distinctive crest took additional time to manufacture, while also adding a hundred grams of weight.

However, the helmet was deliberately designed this way to evoke the artistic style of the highly popular military artistÉdouard Detaille, which helped raise the morale of the troops. Indeed French troops identified closely with their helmets. The helmet's light weight was also better suited to France's emphasis on mobility and was easier for soldiers to wear for extended periods.[8]In addition to the helmet, a set of armored "epaulets" were also developed by Adrian and issued to defend against shrapnel and air-dropped darts, although they were not in common use.

From late 1915, a cloth cover for the helmet was issued, inkhakior light blue, to prevent reflection. However, it was found that if the helmet was pierced by shell splinters, pieces of dirty cloth were carried into the wound, which increased the risk of infection. Consequently, in mid-1916 an order was issued that the covers should be discarded. By the end of World War I, the Adrian had been issued to almost all infantry units fighting with the French Army. It was also used by some of the American divisions fighting in France, including the African-American369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Harlem Hellfighters,[9][10]and thePolishforces ofHaller'sBlue Army.[11]The FrenchGendarmerie mobileadopted a dark blue version in 1926,[12]and continued to wear it into the 1960s, well after the regular army had discarded it.

In December 1915,Winston Churchill(later to becomePrime Minister of the United Kingdomfrom 1940–1945), while serving as a major with theBritish Army'sGrenadier Guards, was presented with an Adrian helmet by the French GeneralÉmile Fayolle. He is seen wearing it in photographs and in a portrait painted bySir John Lavery.[13]

The helmet proved to be fairly effective against shrapnel and it was cheap and easy to manufacture. As a consequence, more than twenty million Adrian helmets were produced.[7]They were widely adopted by other countries Salvador,Greece,Haiti,Italy(including license-built States,USSR, andYugoslavia, many of these states adding its own insignia to the front of the helmet.[10]

However, because the new steel helmets offered little protection against bullets, they were reportedly often among the first pieces of equipment to be abandoned by soldiers on the battlefield.[11]It was also discovered that the badge placed on the front of helmets impaired the strength of the helmet because of the two slots required. This perceived weakness made several armies remove their national insignia altogether. Early helmets were painted "horizon-blue" (light blue-grey) for French troops and khaki for colonial forces. Those made after 1935 are usually painted khaki, reflecting the French army movement to a more camouflaged uniform in the 1930s.

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