WW1 helmets

WW1 helmets - WWI - ww1 Reference table



The military doctrines of the early 1900s advocated a movement  war where infantry would had assaulted, accompanied by modern and light field guns - hydro-pneumatic short recoil designed , which would shoot Shrapnel bullets - named after the British Lieutenant Henry Shrapnel that invented them in 1784 - supported by the cavalry that would had to act as screen, performing  reconnaissance and taking in pursuit of the retreating enemy.
In reality, the war staled and losses due to the war of attrition grew significantly. Many soldiers were wounded in the head by  stones kicked up by the explosion, and especially by Shrapnel balls.
In the absence of helmets -Pikelhaube could just repair a cut of saber-  at first head quarters  resorted to expeditious means, the so-called skull cap, the French one was an awful steel hemisphere, worn in direct contact with the skull beneath the kepi, the German one, designed by the military surgeon Gaede, was more anatomical. Later in 1916 the main armies began to draw up Steel helmets, at the time of the Battle of Verdun, German troops were equipped with the stahlhelm and the French with the Adrian helmet, before the Battle of the Somme the  Brodie helmet was issued to the British army. The British provided their model to the United States and Portugal, which also designed  a quite similar helmet.  The Austro-Hungarians produced the Berndorfer helmet, similar to the German one, but mostly adopted directly the German helmet which had a hemp made strap, Bulgaria adopted the helmet German in small number, most of the  troops was off guard, the Turks adopted a kind of German helmet, made in Germany, without visor, and partly the German helmet, but as in the case of Bulgaria,  few soldiers  were equipped to.
The Adrian helmet was taken in small quantities by Russia, Romania and Serbia, on which they put their distinctive badges, all Belgian troops  were equipped with the Adrian helmet, while Italy produced under license a simplified Adrian helmet made by only two pieces:  helmet and crest.