General Information: The intendance was the logistics and supply entity within the French army. It would be roughly equivalent to the quartermaster and ordinance units in the American army. The intendance badge was the last of the eight statutory French army badges that were authorized during the First World War. It is also the scarcest.Continue reading “French M15 Intendance”
Tag Archives: Adrian
Czechoslovakian M15/18
General Information: From August 1914 soldiers from the regions that eventually formed the state of Czechoslovakia – Bohemia, Slovakia, Moravia and Czech Silesia – served in the French Foreign Legion. At the end of 1917 a Czechoslovakian army within the French army was officially formed. These soldiers came from Czechs and Slovaks living in France,**Continue reading “Czechoslovakian M15/18”
Greek M15/18
General Information: The Greeks formally adopted the French Adrian model helmet in 1918. In collector circles it is usually referred to as the “Greek Model 1915/18.” The helmets were generally painted brown, but less commonly were painted green as well. Based on period photographs, it appears that most of the helmets supplied to the GreeksContinue reading “Greek M15/18”
Romanian M15
General Information: In late 1916 the Romanians ordered 200,000 Model 1915 helmets from the French, but only 90,000 were delivered. The helmets were painted blue and had the cipher of King Ferdinand I. The cipher consisted of a crown on top of two “Fs” placed back-to-back with a Roman numeral “I” in the middle. InContinue reading “Romanian M15”
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”
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”
Italian M15
General Information: The first steel helmet widely distributed to Italian soldiers was the French Model 1915. Deliveries of these helmets began in the fall of 1915 and were the standard type painted blue with French infantry badges. Subsequently, the French produced for export to Italy helmets without badges or badge holes. The earliest versions ofContinue reading “Italian M15”
French Model 1915*
French soldiers with recent medal awards* General Information: The French Model 1915 was the first modern era steel helmet and the first full production steel helmet to reach the battlefields in the First World War. Credit for the creation of the helmet is given to Intendant (quartermaster) general Agust-Louis Adrian.[1] He was responding to the urgent needContinue reading “French Model 1915*”
Steel Helmets of the World Wars 