German helmet: the history of change

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of helmets for ordinary soldiers, sometimes this is the only chance of salvation. After all, the helmet is able to protect the head from fragments of bombs, shells and in some cases even from bullets. Particularly topical was its use during the First World War: the actions were often conducted in the trenches that covered the bodies of soldiers, but the head was an excellent target.

Since 1916, German troops have been massively equipped with special steel helmets M-16. The prototype for their creation was the helmets of the French, to which the Germans drew attention in 1915. It was this model that became the most recognizable and memorable. The German helmet of the First World War was made in the form of a cylinder, covering the head, equipped with a tapered bonnet, the purpose of which was to shield the ears from sound waves and splinters.

This model was equipped with a balaclava, which was attached to a special leather hoop with rivets. They eventually were replaced by clamers - buttons with legs-tendrils, which unbent after mounting the attachment in the helmet. But this fixation was not very reliable, and over time the skin was replaced by metal. The German helmet, equipped with a new metal hoop, was called M-17. A year later, another version of the helmet was released, in which the ears were opened, but in connection with the end of the fighting spread, he did not receive.

The first appearance of the German helmets that soldiers had during the Second World War dates back to 1931. It was at this time that a special holder for the helmet was installed on the product, without which its functionality was limited. Only with the advent of this device, German helmet began to hang on the head during running, jumping and even falling.

The new M-35 models, produced in 1935, were already capable of even protecting the soldier from bullets flying tangentially. Reducing eaves, which did not protect the head, increasing the thickness of the metal, changing the technology of creating ventilation holes only increased the strength of helmets. Of course, these lightweight, comfortable, but at the same time reliable German helmets of the Second World from direct hit bullets to the head did not save, but still they could help survive many Aryans.

But it was not the final version of the protective helmet. In 1940, the Germans created the model M-40, which became the main one for the entire period of the Second World War. Unlike its predecessors, this German helmet was heavier, but thanks to this, it better protected against direct hits of shell fragments or mines. Another innovation was the appearance of metal fasteners on the helmet straps. In addition, the ventilation holes were made stamping (previously they were the manufacturer as separate hollow rivets and inserted into prepared drilled holes).

Manufacturers paid attention not only to the form, functionality, composition of the alloy from which the German helmet was made, but also to its color. If during the parades one could see dull helmets of gray-green color, then the color changed on the front depending on the time of the year, the place of combat operations and, of course, the kind of troops. Only by the middle of the war did they use special camouflage covers and nets.