British Brodie Helmet MkI, WW1, manufactured between 1916-1918, Mark 1, Mk1

Today we'll be jumping back in time a bit and taking a look at one of the first modern, British helmets and the predecessor of the first US steel helmet.  This beautiful, old helmet is a WW1, British 
Mk 1 Brodie helmet.

This helmet came into my collection via my uncle, who picked this up in his travels here in the US.  It was first thought to be a US Model 1917 helmet from WW1, but on closer inspection, it turned out to be British.  The two WW1 Brodie Helmets, British and American, are nearly identical.   Only a few very minor details set them apart from each other.

These original British Brodie helmets were designated the Mk 1 Steel Helmet, and nicknamed after the inventor who designed and patented them in 1915, "John Leopold Brodie".  Production of the Mk 1 Brodie helmets began in 1915 and continued through the end of the war.

British soldiers in the trenches.

When the United States entered the war in 1917, the US soldiers were not issued helmets.  They shipped out from the US, and landed in France, with the standard felt, US Campaign Hat as their field head covering .  In June of 1917, the US placed an order for 400,00 British made helmets and issued them to the US troops in France.  At about the same time, production was started on the US version of the Brodie helmet, named the US Model 1917 Steel Helmet.  In November of 1917, the US produced helmets were available in significant numbers and were being issued to the US soldiers before they shipped out for France.
With this in mind, my helmet could just as easily have been issued to some of the first US soldiers in France, or it could have been issued to a British soldier.  The fact that it was picked up in the US almost 90 years after the war, might indicate that it came back over with the US soldier it was issued to, but we will never know for sure.

My particular helmet is in pretty good condition considering it went through one World War and has survived for 100 years!

My helmet is stamped H.V. / 349 on the underside of the front rim.  The "H" indicates that the helmet was made by Hutton and Sons Ltd. of Sheffield (they produced helmets beginning in 1915).  The "V" stands for the steel supplier, Vickers Ltd. of Sheffield (they began supplying steel in 1916).  The "349" is the heat treating lot number of the steel used to press the helmet.

One of the easiest features that distinguishes a British Helmet from an American helmet, is how the chinstrap bail is attached.  The British helmets used a spit pin rivet, and the American Helmets used a solid, peened rivet.   My helmet has the distinctive British split pin.

The glossy finish is from the varnish I used to seal the old asbestos!

The liner of the helmet is attached with one rivet in the center, top of the helmet.  This rivet originally went through a liner support strap, and then the top pad, that consisted of an asbestos fiber pad that was sewn to a wool felt pad, with a ring of rubber tubing sewn between the two.  The felt pad and rubber tube ring have disintegrated from age and only the asbestos pad is left (there are some small spots of orange adhesive that may have been used to glue the pad in place by a previous owner).  I coated the asbestos pad with varnish to encapsulate it due to the danger of having decomposing, raw asbestos exposed!  I will manufacture a replacement, replica, wool pad and rubber ring to cover the asbestos pad (not permanently attached, for display purposes only).  You can still see some of the old wool and stitching on the old asbestos pad.

The remainder of the liner was sewn from a coated "oil cloth" with a ring of mesh support netting.

The chinstrap is leather with a stamped sliding adjuster.  The American helmets used a cast sliding adjuster.

On the backside of the oilskin liner, there is a faint printed area in red ink that is no longer readable.  This is where the information about the "Brodie Helmet" is printed.  This red printed label is only present on the British helmet liners. This is what the printed label looks like, if not faded out:

BRODIE’S STEEL HELMET
Registered No. 081,990.
WAR OFFICE PATTERN
PATENT No. 11803/15

The faded red printed label on the backside of the oilskin liner.

It is amazing to see how far "helmet technology" has come since 1915.  These old WW1. MkI helmets were nothing more than "stamped tin", and they soon evolved into the heavy steel MkII helmets of WW2.  Very interesting to see the difference that 25 years made.  Here is a side-by-side comparison of my British MkI and MkII helmets.  Very interesting!  (the MkII helmet is shown in the previous blog posting).

And now we've come to the traditional Photo Album!  Enjoy!

Canadian Brodie Helmet, Mk II, WW2 - Korean War era, 1942, Post-War Repaint, Mark 2, Mk2

Today we'll be taking a look at another one of the Brodie Helmets in my collection.  This helmet was spotted at a yard sale in California by mother, and picked up as a gift for me!  Way to go Mom!

Specifically, this helmet is a Canadian Military, Brodie Helmet that was used during WW2 and then repainted and refurbished after the war for use in the Korean War (at home or overseas).

Two Canadian soldiers in Korea, 1950's.

The metal shell is dated 1942 and is stamped with the makers mark of C.L./C. for the Canadian Motor Lamp Company of Windsor.  It is also stamped 60, indicating the shell size.

The metal shell is made of non-magnetic, manganese steel.  When the helmet was first produced, it was covered with a rough textured "cork paint".  Some of this texturing can still be seen in areas of the shell's exterior.  After WW2, the textured paint was no longer used.

After WW2, in 1951, the Canadian helmets were refurbished and repainted for re-issue to the troops for use during the "Korean War Era".  The original, lighter olive drab paint can be seen inside the shell in the crown area, under the liner.  The exterior of the shell and the rim, has the "new" darker green paint that was applied in 1951.   

You can see the 2 paint colors in this photo.

At the time the helmets were repainted, a new style canvas chinstrap was added that was made of two pieces of webbing and a buckle.  This new strap matched the new Model 1951 web gear. 
 http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/equipment/loadbearing/1951pattern.htm

The liner in this helmet is dated 1943, and is marked V.M.C. for the Viceroy Manufacturing Company.  It is also marked 7 for the liner size, and II indicating it is for the MkII helmet.

My helmet is missing the chinstrap and the head liner drawstring cord.  I am currently on the lookout for a correct Model 1951 chin strap.  (there is always something to hunt for!).  I will replace the drawstring with an appropriate matching "modern cord".

This helmet is quite interesting in that it was almost assuredly used during WW2 by a Canadian soldier, and then quite possibly used by another soldier in Korea!  This is one of the things I find so fascinating about these post-war refurbished items.  They have layer, upon layer, of history! 

You can follow this link over to a previous blog posting that shows my WW2 painted Canadian Helmet.  Now I have a WW2 version helmet, and a post-war version helmet!
http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2011/01/canadian-mk1-helmet-ww2.html

 Let's take a closer look at this helmet.  Enjoy the album:

Canadian Troops in Korea during the Korean War.

Douk-Douk Knife, Folding Slip-Joint Knife by Cognet, Antoine & Gaspard, France, French Foreign Legion

Today we'll be taking a look at another interesting folding knife that is in my collection, and often in my pocket as well!

This is a modern production knife made by the French company Cognet, Antoine and Gaspard.  It is known as a "Douk-Douk" knife.

These folding knives were designed back in 1929 as an inexpensive folding knife for the working class.  They are a very simple folding, slip-joint knife with a very strong back-spring that bias's the knife towards the open and closed positions.  In other words, it is a non-locking folder. 

The knife is very simply made, with only 6 parts total.  The blade is made of high carbon steel and can be easily sharpened to a razor edge.  The blade style is very reminiscent of the old scimitar swords.  The handle is a single piece of folded steel with a blued finish.  The spring is VERY stiff, and when the blade is opened, it drops into a very deep detent.  When open, it is very difficult to "accidentally close it" making it, for all intents and purposes, a "lock-back knife".  (This is particularly useful for my overseas friends in places like England and Germany, where lock-back and fixed blade knives can not be carried!)

This particular model is considered the "Sorcier" and has the engraving of the "Douk-Douk" on the handle.  The "Douk-Douk", is a mythical, Melanesian Spirit Incarnation.  This model was originally designed for sales to the French Colonies in Oceania.

There are three other models that had different finishes and  handle engravings for sales in other geographic areas:

El-Baraka: engraved with a Tuareg Cross of Agadez, for sales in the French Colony of Algeria. Nickel plated handle.

Tiki: engraved with a Polynesian Tiki idol, nickel plated handle.

L'Ecureuil; engraved with a squirrel, nickel plated handle and a "spear-point" blade.  This model was primarily for the French domestic market. 

These knives became very popular with the French Foreign Legion troops in North Africa, and quickly became a symbol of terror during the FLN revolt in Algeria, 1954-1962.  
These knives could easily and quickly be turned into a very effective fixed blade knife by mashing the metal handle sides together with the blade open.  This created a razor sharp, fixed blade, "dagger" that proved very popular with the FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front).

Today these knives are still prized for their simplicity, ability to take and hold a razor edge, and their "old-school" classic looks.  They have been produced continuously since 1929 in France and can still be purchased from many modern vendors worldwide.  

With all that said, let's take a look at a few more photos of this wonderful knife:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bundesgrenzschutz Manöverpatronengerät for the Gewehr G1 FN-FAL rifle, Blank Firing Adapter, circa 1950's

It's been a while since I added any new postings to the blog about some of my Bundesgrenzschutz items.  Well today, I'm going "back to my roots"!
I recently found a very unique item floating around on eBay that I just had to have.  It is a mid to late, 1950's, blank firing adapter for the German FN-FAL, G1 rifle, that saw service with the Bundesgrenzschutz.

These blank firing adapters were used when blank cartridge rounds were used in the rifle.  With blank rounds, there is not enough back-pressure from the powder gasses to cycle the firearm and eject, then feed the next round.  To solve this problem, a blank firing adapter is used when firing blanks.  The adapter replaces the flash suppressor and basically blocks off the end of the barrel.  This allows the gas from the fired blank round to build up enough back pressure to cycle the rifle.  There is a small hole in the end of the blank adapter to allow the excess gas that was not used to cycle the rifle, to escape.

This particular blank firing adapter, or Manöverpatronengerät, was originally issued with the first FN-FAL rifles that saw service with the Bundesgrenzschutz in the mid 1950's.

It is generally believed that these blank adapters were manufactured by Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium, the original manufacturers of the FN-FAL or G1 Rifle, and supplied to Germany with the new-firearm shipments.  
The blank adapters were engraved with "On-Off" lettering per the German Bundesgrenzschutz  specifications.  The adapters are a "twist on-twist off" style, installed after the muzzle flash suppressor was removed.

The early adapters that were made for the BGS are all marked with the "AB-AUF" lettering.  The adapters that were issued later to the Bundeswehr did not have the lettering.

Like most NATO style blank adapters, they are painted red to show that a blank firing adapter has been installed (it would be catastrophic to soldier and rifle, to fire a live round with one of these adapters installed!).  The red paint clearly indicates that blanks are being fired and to prevent the accidental use of live rounds.


The Bundesgrenzschutz routinely practiced field maneuvers and "mock combat-police missions" with full gear and blank ammo in the field.  When they were not patrolling the border (with live ammo), these blank adapters would have been installed for all field training with the exception of live-fire range qualification.  If you look closely at the old photos of BGS field maneuvers, you will see these blank adapters installed on the rifles.

It is the little items like this blank adapter that are often overlooked by collectors, however, they played a very big role in the "day-to-day" business of the troopers.  This adapter has found a new home in my Bundesgrenzschutz collection and I couldn't be more thrilled!  

Enjoy the photo album: