Germany/Afghanistan m.18 combat helmet "cut-out"

The Global War on Terrorism replaced the Cold War as America focused on a new and deadly enemy.  The tragedy of 9/11 shocked America and altered the freedoms that Americans have taken for granted for over two centuries.

One of the countries where the United States was fighting was Afghanistan, which is where this helmet most recently served with the old Afghan Army.

Following the First World War, victorious allies confiscated enormous amounts of German and Austrian war material.  Much was scrapped, and some was re-used, as in the instance of this helmet.

As time marched on and the Afghans moved to slightly more modern helmets, most of the WWII models were put into storage, including very large numbers stacked in caves.  During American involvement there, one of the many civilian contractors working with the US military,  visited one of these caves prior to it being sealed with explosives.  

He managed to salvage five of these helmets...goodness knows how many are still buried in that cave.

The helmet is the German m.18 "cut-out helmet" of WWI.

It is referred to as the cut-out because of the scallop in the skirt.

For many years there was much conjecture regarding the purpose of this cut-out.  For many years it was referred to as the "cavalry helmet" based, I believe, on a war-time photo of a German cavalryman wearing this helmet.  Some helmet collectors still cling to the "cavalry helmet" idea, though it has pretty much been discredited.  Similarly discarded is the idea that the cut-out was an attempt to make the helmet more accommodating to the receivers of field-telephones; an idea now generally abandoned.

Most collectors now agree that the cut-out was simply to improve hearing on a noisy battlefield.  The skirt of this helmet's progenitors - the m.16 and m.17 has a full skirt which covered the ears, impairing the soldier's hearing.

The "cut-out" helmet or "ECO" (ear cut-out) m.18 was produced in comparatively limited numbers compared to the m.16 and m.17, making these a rarity and a "white whale" for most collectors.

On the side of the helmet is the white, green, black and red insignia of the Afghan army, which is still in use today.

Quite a bit of the original Afghan paint remains.

The severe pitting in the dome leads me to believe that this helmet was stored upside down, trapping water within it.

As with the other models of German helmets, the size and manufacturer's mark are stamped into the interior of the side of the skirt.

The rim is neatly folded, as it is on all German helmets from the First World War.

A split-pin affixed the leather headband, of which only a tiny fragment remains.

The interior washer which affixes the ventilation lug.

Holes were somewhat crudely punched into the shell to affix the metal insignia.

The m.18 compared to the m.17.  Note that unlike the m.17, the m.18 has no exterior rivet to fasten the chinstrap, instead, the m.18 chinstrap was fastened directly to the metal liner-band.

Similarly, there is no mounting post on the inside of the skirt as there is in the earlier models.

Here are some shots of this model in action:

A German flamethrower operator in WWI

Afghan soldiers, the second from left is wearing the ECO helmet

Afghan soldier

Even Finland utilized the cut-out m.18 in their war with the Soviets.

Prior to, and in the early years of, the Second World War, the m.18 cut-out could be seen as a transitional helmet in the German army.

These helmets are very had to come by, and I was resigned to the fact that I'd very likely never have one, but this one popped up on ebay, and when the smoke and dust from the bidding war ended, I was victorious.  I am very happy and very fortunate to have it on the wall.

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

Mannie

 

How I mount my helmets.

I am frequently asked what my system is for mounting my helmet collection.

First off, a little bit about my particular taste.  I like my helmets to be displayed with the chinstraps fully visible, it provides an ovoid shape, which, to me, is suggestive of the face of the soldier who wore it.  I also like the mounts to be as unobtrusive as possible and have the helmets seem to "float".  I worked at a large public museum for seventeen years, and this technique I took with me when I left.

This nice lobstertail picklehaube is in the " H is for hats" exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in Michigan.  As I watched my colleagues make the installation, I found myself fascinated with the elegant mounting system - a simple bent rod, and I copied the idea for my collection.

If you have the wall space you may find that this system is much more satisfying than using shelves.

You start with quarter-inch or three-eights inch steel rod.  I buy mine at a supplier in ten-foot lengths - which is the cheapest way to buy it - but it is also available in any big home improvement store.

I hacksaw the rods into fourteen-inch lengths.  To facilitate the right-angle bend I heat the metal, at the point of the bend, cherry red.  With one end in the vise and a vise-grips clamped to the other end, I make my bend.  I often use a square to check my work but after a few of these one develops and "eye" for the correct angle.  One should wear heavy leather gloves for this, and remember that the metal stays very hot for a few minutes.

Note that the rod is about six-inches long on one side and eight on the other.  The long one is the one that will be driven into the wooden 2x2 and the short end will support the helmet.

The brackets were primed and painted with two coats of semi-gloss white.

Making the 2x2 mounting strips involved using my table saw, miter saw, and drill press.

1/4" holes were drilled through the 2X2s to support the rods.

The 2x2s are ready to be mounted to the wall.

Toggle-bolts are used to mount the 2x2 wooden strips against the wall.

I cut my 2x2s about six feet in length which provides enough space for five or six helmets.

The long end of the bracket is pounded into holes 1/4" drilled into the 2x2.  The fit must be tight enough to keep the bracket from turning on its axis and causing the helmet to fall. After mounting, the rod and the 2x2 will have their paint touched-up.

To distribute the weight a little more evenly on the liner, I cut four-inch length of shipping tube and fit them over the bracket.  If you want to do this in a sound archival fashion you should cover the tube in unbleached muslin, or, as I do, spray them with clear acrylic, which is acid-free.

And there you have it...helmets "floating" against a well-lit wall.

I hope you find this helpful

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

Mannie

United States Mk I/m1917 combat helmet - souvenir

First things first.  I know of no instances where US troops utilized camouflaged helmets during the Great War; such helmets, as the one in this post, were painted after the hostilities were over.

This is a nice British-made Brodie helmet issued to US troops, a stop-gap practice while America was still ramping up for war-time production.

Reddish/orange, brown, three shades of green, yellow, blue, and black with painted foliage comprise the decoration of this helmet.  These imaginative designs were inspired by the similar designs that were mandated on German helmets in the final year of the war.

The Army tried to proscribe practice, but the returning doughboys seemed to generally disregard that order. 

Then, the Army changed its mind, somewhat.

Chris Armold, in his wonderful, and nearly comprehensive book, Painted Steel discusses this in length, and was a primary source for much of this information.

Here are some details of this helmet.

Headband spacers are short lengths of rubber tubing, which provided some resilience if the helmet is struck.

British-made Mk I helmets have several characteristics which distinguish them from the nearly identical American-made m.1917.  Including the joinery of the rim in the rear of the helmet.  Note how the two ends are lapped over one another, whereas the American rim is joined with a butt-joint.

American m.1917 rim seam.

Similarly, the Mk. utilizes split-pins to affix the chinstrap loops...

the m.1917 uses rivets.

The chinstrap and suspension of both the Brodie and the Mk.I are overly-complicated and poorly engineered. That strap in the very dome of the helmet holds it all together, and if that thin strip of leather were to break, the entire assembly will fall out.  That will be remedied in both successors of these models - the mk.II and the m.1917A1. The profile of both later helmets was identical to that of the earlier models.

Attempts are made at providing cushioning.

A tiny fragment of newspaper is pasted to the front, but the words are not discernable.

This image also provides a nice view of the anti-reflective, sand, substrate.  Where the British usually used sand, generally, American helmets used sawdust to achieve anti-glare properties.

The blue somewhat surprised me.  I haven't seen that hue on other "camouflaged" American helmets.

The leather chinstrap is robust, as is the brass buckle.  Generally, the buckle on the American helmet is steel.

The leaves are simple, yet imaginative.

At the bottom of it all was the influence of the camouflaged German helmets.  Apparently the Americans were very taken with that idea.  An interesting difference was that, in the final year of the Great War the Germans were officially ordered to camouflage their helmets, but it was quite the opposite for the Americans.

I acquired this helmet two years ago, when a privately-owned museum was thinning its collection.

I'm very fortunate to have such a lovely example.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'll see you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie