Elmetto M33
The Elmetto Mod. 33 is a steel helmet of the Italian armed forces from the time of the Second World War . The Elmetto M33 was used until 1990. In Greece the helmet was used slightly modified as M1934 / 39.
History and background
In the First World War , the Italian army used the Adrian helmet Mod. 16. This was a modified helmet from the French Mod. 15 helmet. The Mussolini regime carried out an armament program. Part of this program was the creation of an independent national steel helmet. They wanted to create an independent design like the Germans or the British. The aim was formulated that the helmet should provide significantly better protection than the Adrian helmet. The first draft was the Elmetto M31. This design was judged to be unsatisfactory and was replaced by the improved Elmetto M33, which became the standard helmet of the Italian armed forces. The helmet was judged to be a successful design, although overall it could not achieve the quality of the German steel helmet, compared to the old Adrian helmet it was considered a significant improvement. The helmet was quite light with a weight of 1.2 kg and was considered three times more resistant than the old helmet.
literature
- Giovanni Cecini, i 100 anni dell'elmetto italiano 1915–2015. Storia del copricapo nazionale da combattimento , Ufficio Storico dello Stato Maggiore della Difesa, Roma 2015
- Filippo Cappellano and Livio Pierallini, L'elmetto mod. 33 , in Storia Militare n.230 (November 2012)
