WWI AEF tanker helmet

May 2, 2019

Just curious if the Metropolatin Museum of Art in NYC had anything on the helmet?

TH1

1,797 · May 2, 2019

Anyone talked to Hayes?

20,997 · May 2, 2019

A great thread.

I had no idea that there was such a dilemma.

Where do you work Pathfinder 11?

12,791 · May 2, 2019

Anyone talked to Hayes?

Hayes who? If you mean Otoupalik then say so. Just Hayes, is pretty obscure.

2,042 · May 2, 2019

Great photos, Im guessing the mask type cover with the draw string was meant for chemical attacks

It's 20 layers of quilted silk to protect against bullet splash.

2,921 · May 2, 2019

Great discussion guys, I too wonder if Otoupalik has seen one.

To be clear, Larry is the primary researcher on this...I pick up crumbs and nuggets that I pass to him. And to be sure, I lay awake some nights with two thoughts:

a. "There is a Tank Corps grouping out there somewhere with some sort of "unknown helmet" in it. But WHERE?"

b. "That Italian helmet sure looks CLOSE to the photos...maybe that IS the missing tank helmet!"

I spend more time swirling those two fantasies in my brain than I do researching. Larry, on the other hand, keeps his nose in the records looking for further documentation.

And is this JAG, in his office?

1,320 · May 2, 2019

Great discussion guys, I too wonder if Otoupalik has seen one.

And is this JAG, in his office?

xfiles.jpg

OMG that is the recurring dream I have!

I have spoken to Hayes Otoupalik about this. Hays has an original M1919 leather helmet, but this "provided in France" helmet has eluded him as well.

JAG

1,694 · May 2, 2019

If not a twin to the Italian helmet...…….

1,694 · May 2, 2019

....then at least, a very close relative.

1,320 · May 2, 2019

Boy...you guys are gonna make a believer out of me!

1,914 · May 2, 2019

This is quite the rabbit hole you guys are chasing down.

If one were to exist....it would also have to have iron clad provenance that would both date it to wartime use and assure folks that it wasn't a pilot helmet/motorcycle/other random use helmet.

How many tanks were active in the brigade at any time....and how many crews?

You need to turn up a trunk group of a 304th Tank Brigade veteran who was also a souvenir hound/kleptomaniac....and whose family were the "let's save everything" type through the generations.

Game on!

1,797 · May 2, 2019

Excuse me, there is only One Hayes. Anyone thats been collecting for a while knows that. Hayes has a complete tank he drives around his place. nuf sed

12,791 · May 3, 2019

Boy...you guys are gonna make a believer out of me!

John, your "want" to believe is showing it's head.

1,797 · May 3, 2019

Wondering out loud, Patton museum have one?

May 4, 2019

In the uncropped version of this image a second view of the helmet can be seen, notice the horizontal rib, which is closer to the bottom edge than the start of the dome,the diagonal strap connecting the brow piece/visor to the skirt, and the chinstrap attached to the skirt.

pt03-ch22-sec02_012.jpeg

Nice!! This is a slide from the WWI website I'm building for CMH. I'll post the photo by itself-

2,921 · May 6, 2019

Heres a closeup from the original SC photo:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/55204359

1,797 · May 6, 2019

This is getting good. Notice the smirk on the guy’s face in last pic, probably thinking, my helmet is more comfortable than yours. LOL Someone , somewhere has one, just take a while to find out where.

20,997 · May 6, 2019

To me that's the Italian helmet.

Now how did they get so many?

May 16, 2019

To my knowledge there are no known examples of the AEF Type Tank Helmet in existence. There is one known example of the Type-15 Experimental Tank Helmet in the collection of the center for Military History in Carlyle, PA. which has, unfortunately, lost it's foamed rubber bumper ring. The helmet shown as Italian, and which gave JAG and I so many sleepless nights, is in my opinion an Italian miners helmet. I have been through the Patton Papers and the light tank unit after-action reports and nowhere is there any mention of tank helmets.

If I were to guess I would say that Patton or a member of his staff either procurred Italian miner's helmets or had copies made locally.

Larry

March 27, 2025

Bonjour,
Some weeks ago, I have just discovered, John and Larry color photo from the american ww1 tank helmet and, in France, also writen a topic on the same helmet, just some months later, in june 2020.
At that time, I have only worked on some part of an american military film (in full HD) from Critical Past. See in this topic below :

https://forum.pages14-18.com/viewtopic.php?p=535345&sid=a918afffc3d06cfa1b7aa7d93c474de3#p535345

I think that this helmet is really the good one