Category Archives: World War II

Where Are They Now? The Discarded Helmets of World War II

Helmets

There are dozens of known images – such as the one above – of piles of steel helmets that were collected during and then after the end of the Second World War. The Germans had collected massive piles of steel helmets from Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, and of course France. After the end of the war there were practically mountains of German steel helmets! All of these have been well documented in period photographs.

With conservative estimates the piles could literally be worth millions of dollars, and for collectors of steel helmets these photos have almost mythical quality. However, the question this writer has long had was whether there were ever similar piles of sun/pith helmets? Given the thousands of German and Italian soldiers who surrendered in North Africa at the end of 1943 it must be asked what happened to the equipment – notably the sun helmets. Continue reading →

The Camouflage Pressed Fiber Helmet

CamoFiber1

The American pressed fiber sun helmet still remains very much a mystery at times. Its history hasn’t been well documented and while the research continues it isn’t clear when or even why changes to the patterns were made. What is notable is that the helmet appears to have gone through an evolution.

Now an interesting example has been discovered and it remains the only such one of its type. As seen above it is a camouflage version, which likely dates from the early 1940s. It features three grommet holes on each side, which are used to hold the liner and chinstrap in place. Remnants of the leather chinstrap remain. This helmet lacks the front grommet typically seen in helmets produced expressly for the USMC. Continue reading →

The British Paratrooper Sun Helmet

Para

An Indian made sun helmet featuring the flash of the 151
Battalion of the Independent Parachute Brigade (Photo: Daniel Fisher and Oliver Lock)

When one thinks of a British Paratrooper helmet it is usually the steel helmets used in such notable engagements as the D-Day Landings to secure Pegasus Bridge and later during Operation Market Garden.

However, authors Daniel Fisher and Oliver Lock note in their new book British Airborne Headdress that a variety of other headdress including slouch hats, turbans and even sun helmets were used by various units of the Independent Parachute Brigade during and after World War II. Continue reading →

Shako of the British South Africa Police (BSAP)

Shako

An interesting cousin to the South African polo style sun helmet is the shako used by forces of the British South Africa Police (BSAP), which was the paramilitary police force of Rhodesia. It was created as a force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company. It was originally known as the British South Africa Company’s Police and run directly but the company. Continue reading →

Khaki Sola Pith of the XII Army

XII-1The Twelfth (XII) Army actually existed twice during the Second World War – although the first time it was created as a fictional formation as a Cairo-based deception department. Created by Dudley Clarke as part of the deception plan for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943, it was intended to have the Germans believe that the Twelfth Army was going to land in Greece and then advance into the Balkans.

The army’s formation insignia was a trained seal balancing on its nose a terrestrial globe, which is obviously quite different from the above example. This is because in May of 1945 the phantom Twelfth Army was disbanded and a second Twelfth Army was created to take control of operations in Burma from the Fourteenth Army. Continue reading →

Turbans of the Indian Army

Turbans-in-India

The turban, the traditional headdress of India, is often an object of confusion. As previously noted in our study of the Arabian headdress known as the keffiyeh, the two are often confused. And while they may have a shared origin, and both are made from cloth these two are very distinct. Continue reading →

The Original Camouflage: Khaki Part VII – Khaki’s Use by the Americans

US4

An early 20th century post card that shows the transition from U.S. Blue to Khaki

It wasn’t just the Europeans or the Japanese who utilized khaki, as so too did the American military, which first adopted khaki during the Spanish America War in 1898. Until that time the United States Army was outfitted with the M1883 fatigue blouse in blue. However, the large numbers of volunteers – as well as the fact that soldiers were falling prey to heat exhaustion and dehydration – forced the army to experiment with lighter-colored and lighter-weight materials. The United States thus adopted the “khaki cotton drill” and in 1903 the army authorized these as the official hot weather fatigue and field dress. Continue reading →