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Reason why WWII soldier did not connect their helmet straps


cutiger83
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I'm glad this got brought up, very interesting topic. My grandfather was an aeronautical engineer at the height of the space race, he had a colleague and a very good buddy who was in the 101st and dropped in at Normandy, he told my grandfather about accounts of men drifting their way into a a flooded field, and died when they hit the water due to the pressure of the water rushing into the helmet and dislocating bones. Also had a neighbor who was a LCVP driver in the PTO and said marines had died from jumping off the side of the LCVP into the water, and with the force of the water pushing the helmet up, broke their neck.

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accounts of men drifting their way into a a flooded field, and died when they hit the water due to the pressure of the water rushing into the helmet and dislocating bones. Also had a neighbor who was a LCVP driver in the PTO and said marines had died from jumping off the side of the LCVP into the water, and with the force of the water pushing the helmet up, broke their neck.

I can tell you with certainty that this is an unfounded claim. I've jumped off high dives (33 ft) for swim qualification with a helmet strapped on and never had a neck injury.

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When the liner strap was removed, as described in the 180th's memo, was the shell still secure enough during the soldiers' movements?

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stealthytyler

The real early M1 shells had short chinstraps, right? They could not be fastened around the back of the helmet. I guess they just let it dangle?

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The real early M1 shells had short chinstraps, right? They could not be fastened around the back of the helmet. I guess they just let it dangle?[/quot

 

I have one where a piece of cord was used to join the straps behinde the helmet.

 

Im guessing some could also tuck them under the netting or into it as well if a net was used.

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Burning Hazard

The real early M1 shells had short chinstraps, right? They could not be fastened around the back of the helmet. I guess they just let it dangle?

 

Not necessarily early shells; I have a very early production McCord with the cast buckle that easily ties around the back of the shell.

From the fixed bails that I've owned, there wasn't any particular trend on which shells had longer and shorter chinstraps. It leads me to believe that chinstraps were cut from a long roll at the factory using the human eye which resulted in some being shorter or longer than others.

Also, I believe there were several manufacturers of the M1 helmet chinstrap that sent them to the McCord/Schlueter factories to be attached to the shell; each one could of had it's own standard of lengths.

 

just some thoughts

 

Pat

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I can tell you with certainty that this is an unfounded claim. I've jumped off high dives (33 ft) for swim qualification with a helmet strapped on and never had a neck injury.

That's just what I heard, always confused me a bit, but glad to know it wouldn't! ?
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Jumping 30 feet into water with a bucket strapped to your head is not a good idea. You are practically begging for an injury. Here is what the Army is doing. Watch-cap over your eyes.

 

 

post-10825-0-32720100-1454855781.jpeg

 

Modern day structural firefighting helmets are made with break-away chin-straps in order to prevent neck injuries.

 

Chris

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Your image of Marines is the basic swim qual level...a level conducted without gear in a crawl/walk/run method. Intermediate and Advanced utilize gear. We still wear our kevlars when we jump for those levels, placing one hand on top of the kevlar and holding it down. At least we did last February when I re-qualed

 

I've done it a half dozen times and watched countless other guys do it, no neck injuries I've ever seen

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I'm sure my neighbor at the time was probably just assuming as he was a LCVP driver, and took part in mutiple amphibious assaults. I was only a child when he talked to me about the war, so I'll take it for what it's worth. It seems like as long as you had one hand one the helmet, bracing, it wouldn't cause any injury. Maybe something freak happened,

And he considered it a common phenomenon. But I'm glad you guys brought some light on the subject because it's always some what confused me a bit, based on the physics of the situation.

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...based on the physics of the situation.

 

I do wish Mythbusters could have done this one because it just does not seem like an M1 helmet can hold enough air to jerk your head like it was parachute. The above quoted document does not seem to be based on any tests but rather some anecdotes. I suspect the blast force itself broke some necks and it could have happened with or without a helmet.

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Seems like something they would have been interested in trying to bust, considering millions of servicemen caught on to the myth.

 

I think the military doctors looking into something like this would have erred on the side of what they thought was caution and gone along with the myth. Testing it might have been problematic - few soldiers would have volunteered to stand close to a blast to see if their neck would break. A valid test would also would have had to involve determining what kind of increase in head injuries would result from losing the shrapnel protection of a helmet that fell off because the buckle wasn't fastened. In WWII combat the risk of injuries to unprotected heads had to have been many, many times the risk of having your helmet become a blast catcher.

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I have NO idea what the answer to Kat's question is. I do know trying to run with a helmet chin strap unstrapped takes a lot effort that in contact or incoming could be better used otherwise.

Ken

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when driving a jeep, best to have the strap buckled or secured behind the helmet....else they act like dog ears in the wind and beat ya to death....

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