Tag Archives: North Africa

A Cork Indian/Aden Pattern Helmet

While the term “pith helmet” is used to describe almost all sun helmets, the actual use of “sola pith” material is generally only seen in the construction of helmets made in Asia, including India and the Far East. One of the more popular – and high end – examples of Indian-made sun helmets is the “Cawnpore Tent Club Helmet,” which is noted for its shape and more importantly the quilted linen covering.

All of the examples encountered to date have been made of pith, but recently one has been discovered at a flea market in Munich, Germany, and this example was made of cork. Continue reading →

A Unique War Trophy

American GIs liked their war trophies, which is why there is such a military collectibles hobby in the United States today. Helmets seemed popular and while steel helmets captured (or liberated as the case may be) from German soldiers were certainly favored, so too were sun helmets.

Here is one of the rarest examples we’ve encountered. It is a first pattern German tropical helmet, of the type used by the Afrika Korps during its campaign in the desert. What makes it truly stand out is that the German shields have been removed and replaced by American collar insignia – and this might be the only example of this display of war booty that we’ve seen. Continue reading →

The Dutch-South African Helmet Connection

South-African-Artillery1

South African Artillery in North Africa c1942

For years there has been an argument over the so-called “Polo” style helmet that was captured by German forces and used in the early stages of the campaign in North Africa. This writer actually tried to debunk that these were captured “Dutch” helmets, after a number of sources over the years suggested otherwise.

My argument had been that the Dutch had no African colonies so how could the German military have captured helmets intended for the Dutch Army? Continue reading →

The Luftwaffe Sun Helmet

LuftCrewWhen the German army headed to North Africa and other tropical regions during the Second World War it utilized the sun helmet. The Luftwaffe, Germany’s air arm, followed ground units to the Mediterranean theater where it made up a significant portion of the “Afrika Korps,” and included the Fliegerführer Afrika.

The Luftwafffe personnel, who included air crews, Flak troops and support units were equipped with a variation of the Model 1940 sun helmet. Continue reading →