Steel helmet
A helmet is made of steel existing military headgear , the primary protection against shrapnel to offer. During the First World War , the armies of the major European powers introduced such helmets . In a narrower sense, the term Stahlhelm only refers to the German forms of this type of helmet, but the term has meanwhile established itself for every military helmet made of steel. The helmet is sometimes named after the French officer Louis Adrian Adrianhelm .
development
First World War
When the First World War broke out in 1914, the military equipment of the warring states included headgear that offered no protection from bullets or shrapnel. On the German side, the leather spiked hood was used, which had been in use since 1842 and was only intended to withstand saber blows . Other units of the empire's contingent troops as well as foreign armies used shakos , hats or caps , among other things . Took place in the autumn of 1914 on the Western Front , the transition to trench warfare , in which the enemy armies in extended grave systems faced. From the beginning of 1915, people started preparing for assault attacks by the infantry with artillery fire for hours . Above all, fragmentation and shrapnel projectiles were used, which have a devastating effect on people. Within a short period of time, the proportion of wounds caused by shrapnel rose to almost 80 percent. About a quarter of these wounds were head injuries and therefore almost always fatal, and numerous soldiers were cruelly mutilated.
France
As early as December 1914, the French officer Adrian had some soldiers equipped with steel caps (so-called brain pans) on a trial basis, which were supposed to protect the head when worn under the " kepi ". Tests showed that these steel caps withstood about two thirds of all shrapnel in use. Based on this experience, the French government ordered the mass production of these steel caps. By March 1915, 700,000 units had been produced and immediately used in the field. At the same time, an even more effective head protection system was developed on the French side, which had become necessary due to the heavy fighting in Champagne from February to March 1915. Production of the “Adrian” helmet began, which was first used in July 1915 at the front.
The "Adrian" was made of 1 mm thick steel and had a brim that was wider on the front than on the back of the helmet. The helmet bell has a low crest. The "Adrian" was made in 70 work steps and delivered in three different sizes. By autumn 1917, the daily production number of "Adrians" reached 7,500 pieces. The armies of Belgium , Russia , Romania , Italy and Serbia took over the "Adrian" until 1917. With the introduction of the "Adrian", the British military leadership was induced to have such a head protection developed.
UK, Canada, United States
In summer 1915, the British developed engineer John Brodie the Mk I helmet that a strong resemblance to a variant of the medieval Eisenhut had. Brodie was aware of this analogy, but when designing a steel helmet, he wanted to simplify the manufacturing process. The Mk I “Brodie” was manufactured in just one work step, namely by deep drawing from a steel plate. Great emphasis was placed on lining the Mk I with lining material, which was intended to dampen the transmission of the force of an impacting shell splinter to the head of the helmet wearer. As the British soldiers had to wear steel helmets as extremely urgent, extensive tests to determine the protective effect of the Mk I were not carried out. With a weight of 750 grams, the helmet was comfortable to wear.
In November 1915, the Mk I “Brodie” was used for the first time in significant numbers at the front. Initially, only soldiers on the front lines received an Mk I. It was not uncommon for only one in ten soldiers in a British unit to have such a helmet in the months immediately following the introduction of the Mk I. The helmet was from the British front-line soldiers as Tin Hat (Blechhut) referred. When the United States entered the war in 1917, it initially acquired Mk-I helmets from their British ally. Since the beginning of 1918, the United States produced its own type of helmet, the M1917, but it was only a variant of the Mk I. The M1917 had a material thickness of 0.91 mm and was made of manganese steel. It was able to withstand fire from .45 caliber pistol bullets at a speed of 183 meters per second. Ballistic protection was 10 percent better than the British Mk I.
German Empire
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Since the German army was reluctant to develop effective head protection, some units began making makeshift helmets in 1915. The " Army Division Gaede " stationed in the rocky area of the Vosges recorded considerably more head injuries caused by stone and shrapnel than troops in other sectors of the front. The artillery workshop of the army department developed a helmet that consisted of a leather cap lined with fabric. A 6 mm thick steel plate was attached to the front of the cap, protecting not only the forehead, but also the eyes and nose. The Gaede helmet weighed 2 kilograms and was in use for almost a year until it was withdrawn after the introduction of the M1916 helmet. The assault department, which was decisive for shock troop tactics , the assault battalion No. 5 (pipe) , was the first unit in which wearing a helmet became compulsory.
With his letter of August 15, 1915 to the army doctor of the 2nd Army , the naval doctor- general August Bier , at that time an advisory surgeon at the XVIII. Army Corps on the Western Front, the development of a German steel helmet to avoid skull and brain injuries. This was preceded by a conversation between him and Friedrich Schwerd from the Technical University of Hanover , who was then a captain in the 2nd Army's stage inspection. In this conversation, the technician Schwerd assured the doctor Bier that it was possible to manufacture a one-piece helmet from tempered chrome-nickel steel or from a similarly alloyed steel with eye and neck protection. The Chief of the General Staff of the Field Army, General Erich von Falkenhayn , approved the proposal and passed it on to the Prussian War Ministry . On September 4, 1915, Schwerd was called to Berlin and took part in a meeting in which he presented his suggestions for the technical implementation of a German steel safety helmet. In December, the first copies of the helmet were successfully tested at the front. The order for mass production followed, and at the end of January 1916 the Thale / Harz ironworks delivered the first 30,000 helmets. General von Falkenhayn had the steel helmets distributed to the front units from February. At the beginning of the Battle of Verdun , some of the German units fighting there were already equipped with the new helmets.
The German steel helmet, made of chrome-nickel steel, was officially known as a steel safety helmet , model 1916 or M1916 for short . The M1916 was manufactured in six work steps from a 1.1 mm thick steel plate. It was planned that five percent of all steel helmets - preferably those of the machine gunnery - would be equipped with an additional 10 mm thick plate - the so-called forehead armor - to protect the forehead area. This could not be realized due to the lack of raw materials, and the front plate was unpopular with the soldiers, because the front of the helmet was overloaded by the front plate, which led to the helmet tipping over forwards when the body moved. The end plate was often misappropriated and used to reinforce the trench walls. The allies Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria took over the M1916 after a short time and the pilots of the German fighter planes also switched to wearing the M1916 instead of the leather aviator's hat.
Since the deep brim on the sides and in the neck of the M1916 impaired the hearing ability of the helmet wearer due to noise, it was cut out a bit at the ears of a special model of the M1918, which has been produced since 1918. However, the M1918 model was only produced in small numbers until the end of the war and no longer reached the fighting troops as intended; just as little as a version without the screen pulled forward (similar to the Turkish export version) for the crews of armored vehicles, since the screen was a hindrance when operating weapons and observing through slits.
Both the M1916 and the M1918, like almost all war material , were given a camouflage coating , officially called colored paint, in accordance with a regulation of the Supreme Army Command from July 1918 . Large, sharp-edged color fields in rust-brown, ocher-yellow and green were applied, separated from each other by thick black lines. The colors were matte and were applied with a brush. Sprayed paints have only been documented since the 1930s. Just like the "Adrian" and the "Brodie", the German steel helmet ensured that the number of head injuries fell significantly within a short time. The protective effect was better due to the deeper fit and the hardened steel compared to the French model, for example.
A modified shape was specially designed for the Turkish armed forces, in which the distinctive, far forward visor and the brim that was pulled down in the area of the ears were missing. The Muslim soldier could keep this helmet on for prayer. Around 5,400 units have apparently been produced since 1918 and, as photos show, at least some of them were delivered to Turkey. Some were apparently also used by German voluntary corps in the post-war period.
Many soldiers identified strongly with the steel helmet, which was seen as a symbol for a soldierly community and as a link between medieval knight helmets and modern warfare. So it is not surprising that the Association of Frontline Soldiers , founded in December 1918 , which quickly became a reservoir for anti-democratic forces, named itself after the steel helmet.
List of manufacturers of World War I steel helmets (abbreviation)
Gebrüder Bing AG, Nuremberg = GBN - F. C. Bellinger, Fulda = BF - Gebrüder Gnüchtel AG, Lauter i / Sa. = G. - United German Nickel Works, Schwerte i / Westf. = Ni. - R. Lindenberg AG, Remscheid-Hasten = "bell symbol" L. - Herm. Weissenburger & Co., Stuttgart-Cannstatt = W. - C. Thiel & Sons, Lübeck = TJ - Eisenhüttenwerk Thale AG, Thale a / Harz = ET - Eisenhütte Silesia, Paruschowitz Oberschlesien = Si. - Siemens & Halske AG, Siemenstadt near Berlin = intertwined symbol S and H - Körting & Mathissen, Stuttgart = small triangle + K - Berndorf, Austria = bear symbol or "B" on the helmet bell roof.
Austria-Hungary
Due to the high number of head injuries from grenade or stone fragments, steel helmets were introduced into the Austro-Hungarian army in 1916 . However, the first Austrian helmet samples from the Berndorfer Metallwarenfabrik were not satisfactory. Finally, the steel helmet "based on the German model", which was produced by Austrian companies with German machines from 1916 to 1918, came into use. Both the Berndorfer Stahlhelm and the "German" specimens can be viewed in the Vienna Army History Museum . Captured Italian steel helmets of the French pattern were also used, at least for training purposes.
Between the wars
Even after the end of the war, the steel helmet model 1916 had a strong symbolic power and was inextricably linked to everyday life in the Weimar Republic . Not only at the numerous meetings and marches of former front-line soldiers, but also at festive occasions without a military background, it was not unusual for participants in the First World War to wear steel helmets. The illustrated books on the First World War that appeared in the 1920s were often heavily geared towards the symbolism of the steel helmet. Likewise, some of the new European states that emerged after World War I (Finland, Latvia, CSR) used the German M1916.
While the United States, the United Kingdom and France neglected the further development of the steel helmet after the end of World War I and their armies continued to use the M1917, the Mk I and the "Adrian", the authoritarian regimes led Italy and Germany in the 1930s new helmets. The army of fascist Italy introduced the M1933 in 1933 , which was reminiscent of a simplified form of the German M1916. The Soviet Union, which rearmed itself after the National Socialists came to power in Germany, also introduced new helmets.
As part of the armament of the Wehrmacht operated by the Nazi regime , the M35 steel helmet was produced from 1935 . The shape of the M35 was essentially the same as the M1916, but the M35 was smaller and lighter. In particular, the eye cut-out and the neck guard have been shortened, the fastening bolts for the forehead protection (at the same time ventilation) have been replaced by ventilation sockets. The M35 was made in five sizes, weighing between 800 grams and 1.2 kilograms. Manufacture from molybdenum steel increased the strength by 15 percent. In 1936, the paratrooper helmet M38 for the addition were paratroopers and an aviator helmet for flight personnel of the Air Force introduced. The paratrooper helmet corresponded to the M1935, but was almost without a neck shield and had a particularly strong inner lining.
In today's Saxony-Anhalt, EHW Thale - Eisen- und Hüttenwerke AG, Thale / Harz - had an extensive monopoly on the manufacture of the German steel helmet; initially Albert Ottenheimer was the main shareholder and later part of the Otto Wolff group . their helmets were marked ET. Other manufacturers were added later: Q = FW Quist GmbH, Metallwarenfabrik, Esslingen / Neckar; SE = Sächsische Emaillier- und Stanzwerke AG, vorm. Gebr. Gnuechel, Lauter / Saxony; FS and EF = Emaillierwerk AG , Fulda / Hessen, and NS = VDN - Vereinigte Deutsche Nickelwerke AG, Schwerte / Ruhr.
In Italy, after the First World War, the "Adrian helmet Mod. 16", which was based on the French M15 helmet, was still used. First of all, the "Elmetto M31" was introduced and replaced by the Elmetto M33 after just two years .
In 1936 a new type of helmet was introduced in the Soviet Union, which combined elements of the German M1918 and the "Adrian". In Great Britain the Mk I was slightly modified in 1936 and henceforth referred to as the Mk II.
Second World War
At the beginning of World War II , efforts were made on the Allied side to design improved steel helmets. The first step was the United States War Department . It refused to sign a contract to produce two million more M1917 helmets and commissioned the development of a new type of helmet. An originally preferred design was rejected because it was too similar to the German steel helmet and fatal mix-ups were feared during combat. This led to the development of the M1 helmet, which was ordered to be issued to the troops on June 9, 1941. The M1 weighed 1.3 kilograms and was manufactured in 27 work steps. By the end of the war, 22 million M1 helmets and 33 million layers of lining had been produced. For the US paratroopers, the M2 was introduced, which was an M1 with a thicker lining and a stronger chin strap. The Red Army also introduced a new type of helmet in 1941, based on the Italian M1933.
The British Army did not introduce a new steel helmet until the end of 1943, the Mk III. This had a long neck guard, was around 100 grams heavier than the Mk II at 1.1 kilograms and was better balanced than the previous model. However, few British and Canadian units were fitted with the Mk III by the end of the war.
Since 1943, the US bomber crews have been protected by M3 helmets. These steel helmets were covered with leather and left the ear area largely uncovered to enable headphones to be worn. This was followed by the identically shaped M4, which, however, was provided with a cheaper cover made of khaki . The successor model M4A2 protected the ear area with foldable metal cheek pieces. The slightly modified M5 was the last type of helmet worn by the American bomber crews of World War II. The US Army Air Force was supplied with a total of 393,000 helmets from 1943 until the end of the war. These helmets, together with fragmentation vests, contributed to the fact that the wounding rate among bomber pilots fell by 61 percent within a few months.
The German steel helmet was also revised again during the Second World War. The basic model M35 with riveted ventilation sockets was followed by the M40 with punched ventilation sockets. The M42 (1942) model did not have the flanged edge in the previous models for reasons of faster and easier production, and it was made of silicon manganese steel.
The M45 was still being developed during the Second World War . Although Adolf Hitler had already banned the development of a new steel helmet, due to a memorandum of the Army Medical Inspection, in which reference was made to the increasing number of head injuries and other deficiencies in the previous German helmet models M35 and M40, the Army Weapons Office - bypassing the Ministry of Armaments - approved the development.
The work was carried out in the Chemisch-Technische Reichsanstalt by the Institute for Defense Materials Science in Berlin (head Prof. Dr.-Ing.Fry and clerk Dr. Hänsel). Four models were put into closer testing: “A” = a slightly modified helmet 35, “B”, “B / II” and “C”. The experienced manufacturer of steel helmets, Eisen- und Hüttenwerke AG Thale / Harz, which had been commissioned with the production of the test samples, also submitted the "Thale proposal", which was a modification of model "B" under the direction of the superior Engineer Erich Kisan . The two "B" models proved to be the best in the fire and troop trials. The results were summarized in a memorandum and presented to the Fuehrer's headquarters in autumn 1944 . Despite the positive assessment of the helmets and the large savings in material and labor, it refused to introduce a new helmet model - obviously for logistical reasons and for reasons of tradition.
When, from 1944 onwards, the last reserves, which mostly consisted of old men and children, were mobilized, steel helmets the size of children were introduced.
post war period
After the Second World War, steel helmets remained in use worldwide until the 1970s. However, with the introduction of modern aramid materials such as Kevlar , the steel helmet was gradually displaced, even if it was used in several member states of NATO and the Warsaw Pact until the 1990s, especially in states with conscription. Steel helmets are still used in the armies of various developing countries .
German Democratic Republic
The GDR steel helmets M54 and M56 were based on the test model B / II , which had been developed during the Second World War. The patent specification No. 706467 for the new dome was announced on December 7, 1943. Heinrich Hänsel in Weil am Rhein is named as the inventor.
From January 1956, on the basis of this development over ten years ago, engineer Erich Kiesan was commissioned by the GDR leadership to re-examine the B / II spherical cap, which had been successfully tested during the war, with current series of tests and firing attempts . The dome passed the tests again and was introduced in the GDR as the “new” steel helmet under the designation S 1/56 (M56) . There were two versions: on the one hand, the well-known M56 steel helmet used in the NVA until 1990 ( device 604 in internal correspondence) and an almost identical steel helmet, but flattened on the top as in earlier models of the Wehrmacht, the M54 after the war was produced in small numbers and given to units of the barracked people's police .
Compared to other steel helmets, the M56 protruded far from the head - this increased the risk of getting caught on the edge of the helmet, for example when jumping into a ditch. Cervical injuries would have been the likely consequence of such a snag with the helmet. To reduce this risk of injury, the helmet was designed so that the bell detached from the lining (which remained on the head), thereby separating the helmet from the head. The helmet and the lining remained undamaged and could be put back together again.
Federal Republic of Germany
At the time of its introduction in June 1956, the Bundeswehr helmet was a political issue. The demands of the military for effective head protection for the soldiers were met only very hesitantly. Under no circumstances should the helmet for the Bundeswehr be based on constructions that had been developed before the Second World War or were reminiscent of the Nazi era. The structural deficiencies of the American-style steel helmet were alleviated by compromises in the helmet lining. At the same time, steel helmets of the old form continued to be used by the Federal Border Police and the police.
For the current "combat helmet, general" made of aramid , which was introduced on January 15, 1992, these political concerns no longer applied. The helmet should combine all the advantages of the M35 steel helmet while maintaining the most modern military aspects .
The protection of a modern helmet against puncture depends, among other things, on the diameter of the bullet and the angle of impact. For a 7.62 mm bullet the absorbed energy is about 770 joules and for a 5.56 mm bullet it is about 420 joules. Even today these helmets are not bulletproof. Older helmet designs, however, are significantly worse. In some cases, however, a helmet, a stray bullet from a distance or an otherwise lethal ricochet discourage indeed.
In comparison, the American M1 steel helmet can withstand fire with a caliber of 7.62 × 51 mm from a distance of 800 meters; the projectile energy is around 670 joules at this distance. The caliber 5.56 × 45 mm can - when using steel core ammunition - penetrate the helmet up to a distance of 1,300 meters.
United States
The M1 helmet was used by the US Army until the 1970s after the end of World War II .
It was not until the late 1970s that the M1 was replaced in the US Army by the PASGT helmet made of Kevlar . The Americans refer to this new development as having taken the baseball helmet as a model. Because of its similarity to the M35 steel helmet, the PASGT helmet is also nicknamed "Fritz" by the American army. At the moment the Army is retrofitting models of the old PASGT that are still in service with a so-called "4-point suspension". Similar to the Bundeswehr's Kevlar helmet , it has an additional neck strap that stabilizes the helmet.
After a relatively short period of use for helmets, the PASGT helmet has now been replaced in the Army by the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) , a slightly modified version of the MICH TC-2000 Combat Helmet ; The shape of the ACH is also based on that of the M35. It has also become the standard helmet for the Air Force Security Forces and Air Force Special Operations Command .
The US Marine Corps and US Navy introduced the Lightweight Helmet as the successor to the PASGT helmet in 2004 and replaced it by 2009. This is very similar in shape to the PASGT helmet, but is lighter.
The PASGT helmet is only used by some units of the National Guard and reservists.
United Kingdom
At the end of the 1970s, with the introduction of the GS Mk6 , the British Army also switched to using helmets made of polyamide fibers , which offer better protection and lower weight than the previously common steel helmets.
However, instead of aramid fabric, fibers made from British "ballistic nylon" were used, that is, made from nylon fabric "nylon 6.6" from 840 den to 1,680 den (corresponds to approx. 93.3 tex to 186.6 tex) in 2 × 2 or 2 × 3 plain weave.
Introduced in 2001, the GS-Mk6A helmet is made from a mix of ballistic nylon and Kevlar . In contrast to its predecessor, this helmet has a significantly improved mesh lining.
The current GS-Mk7 helmet, introduced in 2010, is characterized by an optimized shape for better compatibility with radio equipment, a mesh lining comparable to the Mk. 6A with the option of individual padding with gel pads and an improved chinstrap. This helmet is also made of a mixed fabric ballistic nylon / Kevlar and is available in different basic colors (sand yellow, bronze green, black), but is usually worn with the tailor-made fabric cover in the MTP camouflage pattern.
Web links
literature
- Ludwig Baer (ed.): From steel helmets to combat helmets. A history of development from 1915 to 1994. 2 volumes (Vol. 1: 1915–1945. Vol. 2: 1945–1994. ). Baer, Neu-Anspach 1994, ISBN 3-9803864-0-6 (Vol. 1), ISBN 3-9803864-1-4 (Vol. 2).
- Johannes Denecke: camouflages of the German army 1914 until today. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1999, ISBN 3-7637-5990-5 .
- Jürgen Kraus: Steel helmets from the First World War to the present. Friedrich Schwerd, the designer of the German steel helmet in memory (= publications of the Bavarian Army Museum. Vol. 8, ZDB -ID 553886-5 ). Special exhibition Bavarian Army Museum, Ingolstadt 1984 ( online ).
- Otto Peter Lang: Encyclopedia of German Helmets. Volume 1: German steel, tropical and leather helmets 1916–1946. Trench armor, protective mask, M 16 - M 42, medical troops, foreign soldiers in the German army, tank driver's helmet, tropical helmets, historical photos. Weishaupt, Gnas 2005, ISBN 3-7059-0206-7 .
- Dean Bashford: Helmets and body armor in modern warfare. Yale University Press, New Haven 1920 ( American Libraries digital ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zib-militaria.de - Gaede steel helmet
- ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner : The Army History Museum in Vienna. Photos, Manfred Litscher. Styria, Graz a. a. 2000, ISBN 3-222-12834-0 , p. 69.
- ^ Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: The German Wehrmacht. Uniforms and equipment 1933-1945. Volume 3: The Air Force . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-02001-7 , p. 419.
- ^ Siegfried F. Huebner : Sniper shooting technique. The sniper training yesterday and today. 2 volumes. WSV-Verlag, Nuremberg 1999, ISBN 3-923995-16-4 (only for official use).
- ↑ Thanks to Kevlar helmet: Soldier survives headshot by snipers. Focus.de
- ^ JR Brown, GT Egglestone: Ballistic properties of composite materials for personnel protections. MRL Technical Report MRL-TR-89-6, 1989 ( PDF file ).
