Brodie helmet
Soldiers of most nations went into battle wearing cloth, felt or leather headgear that offered no protection from modern weapons.
Like other army helmets of 1914, it was made out of leather; but it also had a significant number of steel inserts, which offered some head protection.
It was constructed in one piece that could be pressed from a single thick sheet of steel, giving it added strength and making it simple to manufacture.
Brodie's patent deals mainly with the innovative lining arrangements; an engineer called Alfred Bates of the firm of Willis & Bates of Halifax, Yorkshire, manufacturer of Vapalux paraffin pressure lamps, claimed that he was asked by the War Office to find a method of manufacturing an anti-shrapnel helmet and that it was he who had devised the basic shape of the steel shell; some newspaper articles are the only evidence for this claim.
The helmet's soup-bowl shape was designed to protect the wearer's head and shoulders from shrapnel shell projectiles bursting from above the trenches.
Initially, there were far from enough helmets to equip every man, so they were designated as trench stores, to be kept in the front line and used by each unit that occupied the sector.
By early 1916, about a quarter of a million had been made, and the first action in which the Brodie was worn by all ranks was the Battle of St Eloi, in April.
It was decided to introduce a number of improvements, and from May supplies of the modified helmet, designated the Mark I, began to arrive.
It had a separate folded rim, a two-part liner, and matte khaki paint finished with sand, sawdust, or crushed cork to give a dull, non-reflective appearance.
[13] Troops from other countries also used the Brodie helmet, including the United States Armed Forces, when they began to deploy in France late in 1917.
Several Commonwealth nations, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, produced local versions of the Mk II, which can be distinguished from those made in Britain.
[15] A civilian pattern was also available for private purchase, known as the Zuckerman helmet, which was a little deeper but made from ordinary mild steel.
The helmet was the inspiration for the name of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (or the MOTH), a brotherhood of ex-front-line soldiers founded in 1927 by Charles Evenden.
The caption reads: "Head-wounds have been more than usually numerous during the war, owing to the trench-fighting , and more than usually severe, owing to the extensive use of shrapnel. But the danger, although it cannot be avoided, can be minimised. Our Army has now followed the French by adopting steel helmets, calculated to stop shell-splinters and shrapnel. Even in cases of extreme risk, not only has death been avoided, but injuries have been confined to bruises or superficial wounds. Cases have occurred in which the wearers have been hit, but saved by these helmets from what without them would have meant certain death. The fur coats, as they did last year, mean mitigation of the rigours of winter. The French helmets are known as "Adrians," after their inventor. (Photo by Illustrations Harrow)."
