Peoples Republic of China 1982 Paratroopers Composite Helmet

Did he just say "Red" Chinese?

Yes I guess I'm just an old Cold Warrior at heart, I spent most of my life with the commies in the role of the bad guys, now I can buy their product at Walmart. Who'd a thunk it?
This the sort of image I grew up with back in the "duck and cover" days...

and this...

and this...


and this from more recent memory.




Here is a really nice specimen that I received just today from an ebay auction. A very well designed, lightweight, attractive, and very durable (though non-ballistic) jump helmet for PLAAF airborne troops, no doubt jumping into Tibet to dish out a little more repression.

A closer look:

Side view

Interior showing efficient suspension and padding.

A pleasant surprise greeted me when I unscrewed the insignia, this red star is stenciled on the front.

Red star in detail, also showing mounting hole for insignia.


Three snaps on the headband attach a protective flap that is evident in the Marzetti book.


Size adjustment is quite rudimentary, simply adjust the lacing through the holes. I'm assuming that the leather is cowhide, although in a regime where the organs of executed political prisoners are routinely sold for transplantation, one can only hope.

Also of note is the rough peening on all of the interior rivets, the work of a malcontent slave laborer no doubt.

The screw-back for the insignia.

The liner and helmet have a paucity of markings, this beneath the cushion,

and this in the dome of the skull.

The frontal insignia is really quite a knockout.


This splendid helmet is now the favorite in my collection, as is always the case for the most recent of my acquisitions.


And now for the sexier side of the Asia-swallowing Red hordes - 

paratroopers unlike any you've ever seen:  (hello ladeez)

This view shows off the "Y" yoke and liner mounting rivets to good effect. Much like the Israeli paratrooper helmet, this one has no quick release of any sort on the chinstrap, which I've always found curious.

A fine view of that very cool PLA airborne insignia which here appears on the ballistic helmet.

I also suspect that this may be the earlier generation steel helmet of the 1990s, note the chin cup.

From these official PLA photos it appears that the Chinese military is trying to make tactical use of glamor...take a lesson Brazil!

provenance:
Peoples Republic of China
1982 PLAAF paratroopers helmet.
Acquired 2008 (ebay purchase)
Purchase price :$29.99
Original in all respects.
Condition: excellent

British Mk 1 Steel Helmet: The Great War

Behold the helmet that won two world wars:


...despite the fact that the British Mk 1 and its progeny the Mk 2 (et al) are so doggone boring. Certainly not particularly innovative or exciting, this helmet is poorly balanced, of no protection to the temples or brain stem of the wearer, and with a dreadfully fragile one point suspension mounting that, if broken will render the helmet nothing more than a shallow basin to catch the former wearer's blood in.

But, nonetheless, this is the "tin derby" which much delayed the sunset of the British Empire

That said, the Mk 1 is a helmet that tugs at the heartstrings and prompts the patriotic pride of much of the english speaking world.

So I'll try to give it its due.

Costing less than $2.00 (including liner) to produce and weighing 1 pound eleven ounces this was Britian's entry into the head protection sweepstakes of 1917.

Prior to the development and adoption of this helmet front line British Commonwealth troops, like everyone else, were attempting to fight the Great War wearing non-ballistic headgear including these natty soft caps.Nice to look at, though shrapnel easily ignores any protective value of wool.

A Mr. Brodie, in 1915 developed the helmet which would symbolize the tenacity and elan of the Commonwealth soldier for generations; the Mk 1.


Side view

Top view, note the single rivet that holds the chin strap and entire suspension in place. One false move and it's "1-2-3 and your hat blew off!"

Here's the oilcloth and felt liner. Note the leather strap that bisects the bowl and the single rivet that holds it in place. If that strap breaks (as straps are wont to do) Tommy Atkins will go rushing forth resembling Brainiac more than a well-equipped soldier.


Speaking of cartoons...

One of my favorite cartoonists is Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, the man who did for the British Tommy what Bill Mauldin did for the American G.I.

Here are two takes on the Mk 1 from the pen of the good Captain:

(do click on the images for clarity)






And now the details

This whole arrangement seems a little bit over engineered to me. We'll see the same setup in the American M1917 in a later post.



The leather band conceals rubber tubing which provides a shock absorbing 5/8 of an inch space between the shell of the helmet and the skull of the wearer. This spacing was quite meager as Bashford Dean notes in "Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare":

"The demerit of this metal was its liability to indent deeply, for this would be apt to cause fatal injury to the wearer."

But make no mistake, this helmet was saving lives.

Including, lets hope, this fellow's.


Although this helmet and the American M1917 often get confused, its really quite easy to tell them apart if you know what to look for.

The Mk 1 chinstrap bails are much thinner wire than are the bails on the M1917, also the rivets on the American helmet are peened and the British (pictured) are split.

The rim weld on the American helmet does not have this long overlap that characterizes the Mk1.

And, finally, the American helmet was dusted with sawdust while the paint was still wet as a simple anti-glare measure, where the poor Tommy had to carry a load of gravel around on his lid. "Heavy Infantry" perhaps?


So, all in all, despite my misgivings, here's a rousing vote of confidence from those who wore it.

Cheers!

provenance:
Mk 1 British infantry helmet.
Acquired 1980, Lansing Michigan.
Purchase price :$32.00
Original in all respects.
Condition: excellent

French Kiss

This is my favorite image of the French Adrian helmet, never displayed at a better angle! (and do click the image for a larger view)

German Model 1917 "stahlhelm": Scourge of the 20th Century

Nothing says lovin' like something in the oven, and nothing says coersive world domination (with a dash of genocide) like the German sthahlhelm (steel helmet) of the 20th century. First encountered in World War One and again in World War Two, this classic, and oft copied helmet profile, struck terror into untold millions of innocent victims. Such nasty hordes, such an efficient and outstanding design.

Here, in all of its terrible glory, is that apex of protection for the frontline soldier, the German M.17 trench helmet.

Weighing in at a hefty 2 lbs, 6 oz, this concoction of manganese, nickle, silicon, and carbon may not have been the first of the modern combat helmets, but it is certainly the best of the batch of WWI. Designed for maximum protection with a thickness of .045 inches, this is an outstanding example of a helmet design that remains with us to this very day, referenced in the so-called "Fritz" helmets of the kevlar variety.

This particular piece is finished in a glossy apple green with the original chinstrap and much of the original suspension. There are also many examples of camouflage patterns for M16 helmet, often with geometric shapes of green and brown with thick, black, painted outlines.

The distinctive "Frankenstein" lugs provided both a means for ventilation as well as support for an armoured frontal plate as illustrated in the Bashford Dean illustration below.

The "brow shield was for advanced position troops, typically lookouts and machine gunners. The heavy frontal protection provided by the quarter-inch thick plate could stop an enemy bullet fired from beyond fifty meters. Although it increased the ballistic protection of the helmet, the tradeoff to the soldier was the discomfort of the five to seven pounds of extra weight...what a pain in the neck!



This helmet is incredibly well designed, from the long visor...

to the deep neck and shoulder protection provided by the 2 and one half inch skirt.

The liner is the typical European three-pad style. This one has significant damage and has been backed with archival material.

I'm quite certain that the legend of this poster reads: "Now, let us take a look at the details of this fine helmet", or something along those lines.



In the dome of the helmet is stamped a manufacturers code "BN298". The significance of this inscription is unkown to me, I invite readers to subimt information.

On the inside helmet skirt is the size of this helmet "ET64" also pictured is a detail shot of the chinstrap mounting lug as well as the "rolled edge" of the helmet.



This model has a steel liner band, others had leather bands that attached to the liner.

A nice shot of the underside of one of the three liner tabs. The pocket contains a cusioning material that spaces the helmet shell an inch from the skull of the wearer. I've seen references that infer that these little pockets sometimes held first aid kits...for some reason I find that doubtful. Bashford Dean's seminal study "Helmets and Body Armour of the Twientieth Century" notes the padded "mattresses" that were contained within these tab pockets.

And , voila! just as the emminent Professor Dean illustrates, this helmet tab conceals one of those aforementioned "mattresses" suitable perhaps for a" liddle kiddle" (ask your wife).


A closeup of that lug from the outside,

and here, the inside.



Alas, regardless of the advances in protection, its the same old sad story in each war: the young soldier boys, usually in their teens, go confidently marching off looking like this:



...and, all too often, end up like this.

As you collect, reflect.




provenance:
accession number: MOA hmar.90.32.10
Model 16 German helmet.
Acquired 1989, Lansing Michigan.
Purchase price :$40.00
Condition: good

Next post: Here come the Tommies! The British mark I of 1916...stay tuned.