Helmet manufacturing videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqhN0ihB5lo South African MkII


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq1SdG0ASdM  United States M1917


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baMmJyqQy90  German m.40


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz1VYxSFyMQ  United States M1 helmet liner


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sqy7eFl3hQ  United States ECH


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFViD5BBuLE  Italian


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vcPV91TZKI  PAGST


http://www.britishpathe.com/video/steel-helmet-for-french-army/query/Amelia Soldier modeling Portuguese M16

Turkey M1 parade helmet

I can't pass up shiny objects!

so you can imagine how happy I was to find this dazzler from Turkey. 

I was letting my fingers do the shopping on ebay when I came across this Turkish air force general's parade helmet.  I'm always looking for something different (as well as affordable)

and I didn't have a Turkish helmet, until now.  At a very reasonable price and shipping charge, this arrived from Turkey two weeks after my winning bid.

Google "Turkish honor guard" and you'll find lots of pictures of these lids from all branches of the Turkish military.  They are all highly polished plastic M1-style liners in the color of the arm of service.  and they all have the most wonderful metal badges left, right, and front.  What a piece of confection!

A near-identical copy of the United States M1 liner, this clone is manufactured in an unbreakable flexible plastic.

Immediately familiar is the Riddell suspension system of the American M1 copied here with only minor changes...

most notably the buckles for adjusting the fit.

Otherwise components are identical, including the clips for attaching the sweatband...

and characteristic "A" washers...

affixed to the shell with flat, polished rivets.

The nylon chinstrap is adjusted by a slider buckle.

The webbing has clear maker's markings...

and more information is molded in to the bottom of the visor.

The various badges are really beautiful.

This is the general officer's insignia affixed to the front. 

The crest is backed by red velvet  - Ooh la!

The shield of the Air Force is mounted on the left-hand side of the helmet.

Each branch of service has it's own distinctive shield.

(photo courtesy Mark Skrzynski)

The national shield is enameled metal with a screw back.

It is devoid of any manufacturer's marks.

All shields are secured with a simple square nut.

The chinstrap is mounted with furniture identical to that of the American Hawley fiber liner.

Air mailed all the way from Turkey and now a showpiece of my modest collection.

Turkish delight indeed!

Battlefield Military Museum: a review

As you are leaving Gettysburg on the Baltimore Pike, just as you pass  Evergreen Cemetery, you will encounter on your left an imposing brick structure with the sign Battlefield Military Museum.  Frequent visitors to Gettysburg may have driven past it many times without giving it a thought;  next trip, however, its definitely worth stopping by for a visit.

In fairness to the collection please know that I was shooting through glass so most of these photos don't do justice to the objects in the cases

The Museum has three floors, two of which are open to the public.  The lower (below ground) level is dedicated to collections spanning the World Wars, the focus of the first floor is the American Civil War and the post-Civil War era.  

The museum is idiosyncratic and very much reflective of the collecting tastes of its owner and proprietor.  With over ten thousand objects on display this museum truly is "one man's vision" and is obviously a labor of love that has taken many, many years to bring to fruition.

The galleries are shotgun-style with exhibit cases lining the walls.  Museum conservators be warned; the galleries have much too much light for museum standards, but it certainly does make it easy for visitor to drink in the wealth of materials before them.  As a matter of fact there is little about this museum that will meet with the approval of a museum conservator; visitors, on the other hand...

find themselves engrossed.

By the way the smell of mothballs is heavy in the air.

Looking like the dry-cleaners at Camp Pendleton.

The many painted helmets made me think of Chris Armold's worthy book - Painted Steel

Of the two Model 8 experimentals, the one on the left has an interesting camouflage design. 

 I wonder if its original?  Also, note the paucity of labels, generally one needs to know what one is looking at, as so little identification is provided.

Who ever said "less is more"? *

There is just one remarkable piece after another in this altogether remarkable museum.

Mr and Mrs first-nighter heading out for the revival of Springtime for Hitler (oh do click the link).

"Chock-a-block" or "cheek by jowl"; you decide.

Picklehauben a-plenty, and swimming pool blue cases!

The more one looks the more one sees.  There is so much stuff crammed into this building.  One wonders what's on the top floor?  (which isn't open to the public).

When you start calculating the value of the items in this collection you start to encounter a lot of zeros.

A lapse in the collection is the very under represented area of Japanese militaria, despite this fellow who's finger has been shot off.

The depth of the collection is just fantastic.

Despite its conservational shortcomings, not to mention the overwhelming aroma of mothballs,the  Battlefield Military Museum is a gem and I'd highly recommend you put it on your itinerary for your

 next visit to Gettysburg.

* Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 

Japan: model 30-32 (type 90) Combat Helmet (part one)

 Talk about a land of contrasts...

For a quick analysis regarding Japanese atrocities before and during WWII, click here

They were truly the "Evil Empire".

Ladies and gentlemen the Japanese model 30-32 steel combat helmet:

With its distinctive acorn shape here is a distinctive symbol, and reminder, of the scourge of the 

so-called Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

With long web chinstrap tapes and leather liner this non-ballistic and fairly lightweight helmet conqured much of the eastern hemisphere.

Front of helmet with insignia of the Japanese Landing Force

Close up of insignia. I believe that this helmet originally had the Army insignia on the front of it as I can just make out the indentations in the olive/brown paint of the five-pointed army star.

Leather liner and cotton chin tapes. The Liner is a three-finger system sewn to a leather band, riveted 

to the shell.

This rivet appears to have lost its head (don't we all from time to time).

Liner mounting rivets are peened.

Right side with two tiny ventilation holes visible

Detail of script handwritten on liner.

(This, from reader Ted: I wandered around [your blog] a bit, and stumbled over your Japanese helmet, that evidently belonged to someone named Imai, perhaps with a given name of Shokichi).

Some however, were reconditioned and sold for export, as we'll see in next week's entry.

 

Be advised that searching for Japanese war photos on "Google images" can present some very jarring images about their savage romp in China.

With some heavy scratches and moderate wear, I'm very happy to have this hard-to-come-by example in the collection. It is a particularly light helmet and the Greenish-brown paint has been brushed on and is rather thick in places.

Provenance:

This helmet was purchased on Okinawa Japan in the mid-1980s by my brother who was stationed there for two years with the U.S. Navy.  He noted the difficulty of securing not just a helmet in this good condition, but of getting any Japanese helmet at all. Japan was so diligent in shedding its militarist past that most of these helmets were destroyed immediately 

after the war.