Rather soon after the French commenced with the use of the Casque Adrian the Britsh army was convinced of the benefits of a steel helmet.
The English Brodie helmet was nicknamed ‘tin hat’, ‘trench hat’ and ‘battlebowler’ by the British troops.
This article will show the development of this steel helmet and also deals with the differences between an British and American helmet.
British version of the Casque Adrian.
Source: Helmets of the First World War © In the first years of the war soldiers of both sides were wearing field caps or pickelhaube’s made out of leather.
Because of the serious head injuries caused by shrapnel and debris the French started the development of steel helmets to reduce the number of casualty’s. In June 1915 a research team was send to France by the British supreme command in order to investigate new, useful idea’s on the field of head protection.
It was the same period in which the French army was developing the Casque Adrian. The investigation crew was convinced of the fact that British troops would need the same sort of protection and ordered 500 helmets, which were divided among some regiments in order to test them.
Soon tests showed that the helmets did in fact reduce the number of head injuries. At practically the same time the War Office came to the conclusion that a helmet would have to be developed to protect the head and shoulders of the British soldiers.
The War Office started searching for another type of helmet after they found out that the French Adrian helmet would not offer enough protection. The British inventor John Leopold Brodie developed a model based on the helmets soldiers were wearing in the fifteenth century.
It became a helmet easy and cheap to produce. In addition, it offered the necessary protection against falling debris and shrapnel. Brodie’s model was shaped spherical and came with a short ring.
The War Office agreed and two prototype’s were developed: the first model, Type A and the second model, Type B. Type A was practically the same as Brodie’s original design. It was spherical and the top was a little flattened and it had a ring of 50 mm at the sides and the back, wich was 40 mm at the front.
The model was made of manganese steel containing no magnesium, a material stronger than magnesium fluid steel.
Type A
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
Type A, the inside
Source: Helmets of the First World War © Type B had a slightly larger spherical and the rings were a bit narrower, 25 mm at the front and the back, and around 35 mm at the sides.
The model was made of manganese fluid steel.
Both models had a rimless ring, meaning that the sides of the rings were not pressed into the steel edge unlike the Mk1, a model that was developed later on.
Type B, front view
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
Type B, side view
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
Type B, inside view.
Source: Helmets of the First World War © On 11 august the War Office ordered some Type B helmets at the Ministry of Ammunition for further testing. These were 0.9 mm thick and had an apple green colour.
In the first days of September they were sent to France to be used my the English soldiers. Soon the English army switched to the Type A helmet because of the stronger armour. At the end of September these helmets were being produced and the first stock of 100 pieces was shipped to France where they were first used by the British troops in October.
In the last days of October the daily production of what was later to be known as the Brodie’s Steel Helmet Office Pattern had already reached 800. By March 1916 over 270.000 helmets had been produced lowering the number of head injuries by 75%.
At the eve of the Battle of the Somme Sir Douglas Haig demanded an extra 660.000 helmets for his troops. In the first weeks of 1916 nearly one million Brodie War Office Pattern Helmet had been shipped to France. In 1916 the Brodie War Office Pattern Helmet model showed some disadvantages. The sharp edge caused some injuries when soldiers stumbled upon each other in the dark trenches. A new steel rim was put around the helmet transforming the Brodie War Office Pattern Helmetinto a Mk1 helmet. In order to stop the reflection the sun caused on the Type B model, sand was mixed with the paint which was used to give the helmets a brand new colour.
Brodie War Office Pattern Helmet.
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
Mk1 with rim
Source: Helmets of the First World War © The inside work.
The first inside works of the helmets were rather clumsy and uncomfortable.
These were made of six strings attached to sides of the helmet by twelve rubber rings. The strings also kept the helmet from swinging on the heads of soldiers. A chin belt was attached with a hook connected to split pens at the sides of the helmet.
The inside work of the first model was of poor quality, it broke soon and it was very uncomfortable for the soldiers to wear them. In the second model the inside work, made of a few layers of linen, canvas and felt, was attached to top of the helmet by a chin rim which was fastened with a copper rivet. This type became the official War Office model and was used during the entire war.
The insides works of the helmets all got a stamp with the text:
Brodie’s steel helmet
Registered No. 651.999
War office pattern
Patent no. 11803/15
Just like the previous inside work, the soldiers were not content with this version either. Because of the poorly attached strings, the helmets shook the heads of marching soldiers.To prevent this from happening, in 1917 a rubber ring was placed underneath the felt in the helmet. Because of this mutilation, the production time of the Mk1 increased. Hence, the War Office soon stopped adding the rubber rings in the helmets. The Mk1 was only made in 3 different sizes.
A lace offered the British soldiers a chance to fit the helmet to their own head size. The size of a helmet was usually described in the chin belt.
An privately bought inside work.
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
Yet another example of an privately bought inside work.
Source: Helmets of the First World War © Troops with plenty money – usually only the officer – were able to buy a more comfortable inside work when they were on leave in England.
Therefore sometimes helmets show up without the official War Office inside work. On the ring of a helmet, there some numbers and letters are printed. These reveal the producer of the helmet and the supplier of the used steel.
Example of some numbers and letters printed on the ring of the helmet. Here follows a list of producers and suppliers: Suppliers FS Thomas Firth and Sons, sept. 1915 – 1919
HS Hadfields Ltd. jan. 1916 – 1919
BS W Beardmore & Co. Ltd. jan. 1916 – 1919
MS Miris Steel Co. Ltd mrt 1916 – 1917
A Edgar Allen and Co. Ltd 1916 – 1918
F Thomas Firth and Sons 1916 – 1918
O Samuel Osborne & Co Ltd. 1916 – 1918
V Vickers Ltd 1916 – 1917
B Bury's & Co. 1916 – 1918 Producers D James Dixon & Sons dec. 1915
H W Hutton & Sons dec. 1915
HH Harrison Bros. & Howson Ltd. dec. 1915
M J&J Maxfield & sons dec. 1915
R John Round & Sons 1916
V W&E Viener dec. 1915
A British Brodie helmet used by a tank crew.
Source: Helmets of the First World War ©
A Britsh Brodie camouflaged by jute.
Source: Helmets of the First World War © By 1917 the United States had not produced a single helmet. Therefore, they tried the Casque Adrian but soon chose for the English model.
In that same year over 400.000 British helmets were delivered to the Americans. The United States copied the model and produced their own helmet, known as the Doughboy. There helmets was slightly modified by the American army.
The British split pen.
The rim of a British helmet.
An American Doughboy. The most obvious differences are:
In the American helmet the chin belt is attached to the side with a rivet. In the British version it is attached with a split pen.
The steel rim of the model Mk1 is attached to all American helmets. Therefore, any helmets without a rim are British.
In the attachment of this steel rim there is a slightly difference. The ends of the British rim overlap, whereas the end of the American rim are connected to each other without overlapping and are attached with a pointlas. Besides, any helmets with a rubber ring are English.
A British Brodie helmet with rubber ring. These are the most obvious differences.
Some other distinctions are: The American ring is a bit wider than the British model
The British helmet contains 12% manganese steel, the American 13%
And American chin belt is a bit wider than a British one After the war the Brodie has been developed to the MkIII model, ‘The Turtle’, used by the Canadians during D-Day. The Brodie has been used after the Second World War by a few NATO members, including the Netherlands and Belgium. Merlijn van Eijk 2006 Sources:
Helmets of the First World war - Michael J Haselgrove & Branslav Radovic
ISBN 0-7643-1020-8 (Including some of the used picture’s)
British steel helmets 1915 – 1918 en British steel helmets 1915 – 1918 and Steel helmets Mk1 part 2 Marcus Cotton published in and English military magazine.