General Information: The badge with the rod of Asclepius was for medical services (service de santé). (See French Model 1915). This badge was one of eight statutory badges authorized for use by different branches of the French armed forces. An interesting side note is that the French medical services used the rod of Asclepius, theContinue reading “French M15 Medical”
Monthly Archives: April 2022
French M15 Artillery
General Information: There were eight statutory badges authorized for use by different branches of the French armed forces in the First World War. The badge with crossed cannons was for artillery troops. (See French Model 1915) Displayed Example: I purchased this helmet this helmet from a French collector friend. The private purchase chinstrap was aContinue reading “French M15 Artillery”
German M42
General Information: In August of 1942 the German Army High Command announced that the inward crimping of the helmet rim was to be abandoned.[1] This presumedly was done to eliminate a step in the manufacturing process in order to increase efficiency and reduce cost. The helmets produced following this order are referred to by collectorsContinue reading “German M42”
Serbian M15
General Information: The French supplied Serbian armed forces with 123,000 Model 1915 helmets.[1] The Serbian helmets were painted brown like other foreign-used M15s. They had a frontal badge that was the coat of arms for Peter I, the King of Serbia from 1903 to 1918. The double headed eagle was adopted from the Nemanjic dynasty thatContinue reading “Serbian M15”
French M15 Colonial/Navy
General Information: The French Model 1915 with a flaming bomb and anchor badge was issued to navy and French colonial troops. The helmets used by colonial troops were sometimes painted brown. French colonial troops from Islamic countries were issued helmets with a crescent moon and the letters “RF.” I presume the helmets with the anchorContinue reading “French M15 Colonial/Navy”
British MKIII
General Information: The British Mark III was designed to address deficiencies of its predecessor, the Mark II, which was basically the same helmet used in the First World War. That helmet had been effective in preventing injuries in trench warfare conditions where shrapnel falling from above was the main hazard. From the earliest stages ofContinue reading “British MKIII”
Belgian M15
General Information: Starting in November of 1915 the French supplied the Belgians with brown painted Model 1915 helmets.[1] These had lion head badges attached to the front. Unlike the French armed forces, which used helmets with different badges to represent distinct service branches, the Belgians had only one badge. According to one source, the BelgiansContinue reading “Belgian M15”
Polish wz.31
General Information: I have a wonderful reference book that tells us everything there is to know about the Polish wz.31. Unfortunately, it is in Polish and I do not know what is says. I have to rely, therefore, on the scant resources available to me at the moment. Based on my personal observation, most ofContinue reading “Polish wz.31”
Russian M15
General Information: The French shipped 1,977,000 Model 1915 helmets to Russians for use in the First World War.[1] The helmets were painted khaki brown and had an Imperial Russian badge affixed to the front. This headgear was subsequently used extensively by both sides during the Russian Civil War. The Red Army used modified, reissued versionsContinue reading “Russian M15”
SSh-39*
General Information: The SSh-39 replaced the SSh-36. Together with the SSh-40 it was the main helmet used by the Soviet soldier during the Second World War. The liner design carried over from the SSh-40, although early-production versions of the helmet had a black oil cloth liner. The helmets initially had Red Army stars stenciled onContinue reading “SSh-39*”
Steel Helmets of the World Wars 