One great irony of the era of imperialism and European colonial empires is that the French reached their colonial zenith as a republic. In fact an overseas empire was seen as a way of restoring the prestige of France following the humiliating defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. As we’ve noted in past articles the French utilized their own style of “colonial” pattern helmet. Continue reading
Soldiers of the British West Indies Regiment on the Albert to Amiens Road, September 1916
The West India Committee, one of the leading British-Caribbean charities operating in the UK, has strived to recognize the contribution made by Caribbean soldiers to the Allied effort during the First World War. Continue reading
An early 1980s Soviet Afghanka cap of the type used during the summer months in the Soviet Union and by Soviet forces in Afghanistan (Collection of the Author)
While Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union controlled vast territory, in each case it was truly an empire without far off colonies – apart from some brief adventures during the Imperial era and the Soviet’s proxy wars of course. However, the Soviets did utilize a number of summer uniforms including light weight khaki colored tunics and other clothing. Yet it wasn’t until the 1980s that a true form of “summer headgear” was developed.
This was the Afghanka hat – a type of boonie hat – that was utilized by the Red Army following the 1979 Invasion of the Soviet Union. The hat was developed with the other Afghanka uniforms and equipment, which was needed as the rugged countryside of the Central Asian nation was known for its extreme hot daytime temperatures in the summer and its equally bitter cold nights in the winter months. The boonie hat was developed to keep the rays of the sun off the wearer’s head and out of his eyes. Continue reading
A Palestine Police sun helmet and kalpak (Collection of the Author)
Following the First World War the British found themselves with new territory carved out of the Ottoman Empire, which included Mandatory Palestine. To help administer this new “mandate” the British formed the Palestine Police Force. It was established on the First of July, 1920 by High Commissioner Herbert Samuel’s civil administration which took over responsibly in Mandatory Palestine from General Allenby’s Occupied Enemy Territory Administration . Continue reading
I recently purchased this helmet, from a dealer after seeing it online. The helmet itself is unnamed, but of good private purchase quality, and would have belonged to an officer of the 7th Battalion, The Tank Corps. The helmet would date to the early 1920s when the 7th battalion were sent to India along with the 8th Battalion. Continue reading
The Canadian military is most remembered for its heroic actions in Italy and Western Europe during the Second World War, but it was still active in every theater of war. More than 1.1 million Canadians served in the Army, Navy and Air Force and its entry into the conflict was the nation’s first independent declaration of war.
During the North African, Middle Eastern and Sicilian campaigns the Canadian army was outfitted in a tropical uniform. Among the more “anachronistic” looking of these was the uniform worn by units of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery.
(Collection of Robert G. Segel)
The machine gun played a major role in the First World War, and it could be argued that one of the reasons the war on the Western Front turned into a stalemate was that the rapid fire machine gun made a maneuver virtually impossible. The machine gun was thus responsible for the trench warfare that ensued as soldiers “dug in” as each side blasted away at one another.
Ironically perhaps the same gun that created this situation was considered to be the solution. The British Army formed the Machine Gun Crops (MGC) in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns. Continue reading