Israeli M1 combat helmet

 

 In 1948 the fledgling State of Israel was a hodge-podge of military materiel from other nations.

 

1948 Haganah soldiers during the War of Independence wearing

 a mix of British Mk I and Mk III ("turtle shell") helmets.

Israeli soldiers, all wearing the British Mk II helmet, at the

Wailing Wall during the Six-Day War of 1967. 

After decades of reliance upon other nations' surplus to meet their helmet needs, Israel in the 1970s began producing its own version of the American M1 helmet.  Not merely an import of the American M1 but a home-grown clone liner, chinstrap, and all.

Traditionally the State of Israel has, for better or worse, been so closely linked to the United States that wags frequently refer to it as "the 51st state". It would figure then that the front-line helmet of Israel for nearly two decades was a clone of the venerable US M1.  This post takes the time to do a side-by-side comparison of the two to explore similarities as well as subtle differences.

From all angles... 

save for the three-point chinstrap...



 it's a dead-ringer for the US "steel pot".

 

 

To my eye though the the flare of the skirt seems more pronounced that the US M1 so...

 

 

I did a side-by-side comparison and the difference is quite evident; Israeli on the left,

American on the Right.

 

 The shell also appears to be slightly larger than the US M1

 

 

 

One thing that really puzzles me about the three-point chinstrap is that there is no quick way to release it.  The webbing has to be threaded or unthreaded from the buckles.  Either I'm missing something or this isn't a particularly good system. 

 

 

Imagine having to deal with this every time you needed

 to take your helmet off.

 

There are three adjustment points available

but no practical fastener. 

 

 

  

 Hebrew script for "army" and, perhaps, the date of manufacture.

This marking, in ink, is printed on the inside of the dome.

Though the buckle is unique it is fastened to the helmet with a bracket very similar to the US M1.

 

 Embossed in the liner is, again, the character for "army" and in the dome of the liner...

 

 is the logo of the manufacturer.

Tama Plastics is an Israeli company that now specializes in

 plastic products related to agriculture. 

 No surprise here, "A" washers typical to an M1 liner.

The helmet band clips are also identical to its American cousin.

 As with the US M1 the sweatband is adjustable at the rear.

Comparison with the US M1 liner (on right) reveals fewer rivets, a shorter visor,

 and no flare around the rim

The plastic Israeli liner (left) is also considerably thicker that the fiberglass American model.

Typically, camouflage nets were worn with the Israeli M1 as seen here during the Six-Day war.

 So there's my look at the Israeli M1 clone. 

Stop by again as I mine the collection for

another cool helmet to explore.

In the words of former Israeli defense minister Moshe Dayan...

"I'll keep an eye out for you"

US Navy Mk II talker helmet

"Maintain proper circuit discipline"

I occasionally heard that phrase come over my headphones as a young Radioman in the early '70s as I was wearing the

Mk II "talker" helmet.

The Mk II was designed in 1942 and was in use well in to the 1980's.  It was a very large and somewhat ungainly helmet to wear though it did serve its purpose very well.  It was designed to accommodate the wearing of headphones for Radiomen or anyone

using shipboard sound-powered phones.

The Mk II was manufactured by the McCords Radiator Company in Detroit Michigan; 

 the "Arsenal of Democracy".

Its composition is non-magnetic Hadefield manganese steel.












In addition to accommodating headphones it also provided

a great deal of protection to the wearer.

The bowl is so wide it even provided some coverage to the shoulders of the sailor who was underneath it.

Okay, it does look a little like the helmet Rick Moranis wore in the movie "Spaceballs".

Painted sea blue the Mk II, like the Mk I, has cork applied with the paint to provide a textured, non-reflective surface.

The leather chin bales are affixed with brass wire as brass doesn't corrode in the salt water environment of shipboard living.

The liner is composed of a vinyl rubber material by Firestone

 and B.F. Goodrich.

(see ad at bottom of page)

One can easily see in this shot the channels that provide clearance for headphones as well as the head of the wearer.  The padding is very thick and semi-flexible.

The chinstrap is of horse leather and the slider-buckles are made of non-corrosive aluminum.

The chincup has a chamois leather layer next to the skin of the wearer.

I seldom found one of these helmets in which the liner didn't smell of mildew from the marine environment and it was common to have it separated somewhat from the shell.

The rim is a separate piece of magnetic steel...

and the inside of the shell is marked in ink.

This particular helmet was acquired by me for twenty dollars from noted collector and helmet authority Floyd Tubbs in the early 1980's at a militaria show in Lansing Michigan.  I found Mr. Tubbs to be very gracious and always very willing to share his expertise with a new collector.

 

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie