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Post Your WWI & WWII American Field Service Adrian Helmets


Bugme
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I always wanted to see a close up of a original US used Adrian from WWI, these are so rare that Ive never found any period photos of these in use with the US helmet badge, since the British Brodie style was the most common helmet they used.


congratulations on this great addition to your helmet collection, that a nice piece

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normaninvasion

Amazing addition :thumbsup: I saw this listed with other AFS items, my hat is off to collectors who enjoy this field. As I see in Croix's threads, this is some rare stuff. Its a real treat to see these items. These guys had some amazing stories and stepped up to the plate to help out friends in need!

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Very interesting helmet and the provenance adds even more interest. Is the American badge US made or was it stamped by French makers (like in the other M15 helmets)?

 

This is probably the first of a very long line of medic helmets used by US forces along the XX century.

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Very interesting helmet and the provenance adds even more interest. Is the American badge US made or was it stamped by French makers (like in the other M15 helmets)?

Thanks Cesar! The badge is not stamped but, is cast in brass. It's very worn but, it does look like it has the remnants of maybe a silver overlay?
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Here's another AFS photo however, the insignia is not clear. But it does show the AFS driver in front of his ambulance wearing an Adrian.

ff097.jpg

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Love those ultra rare helmets. But, I can't dwell on it to much. It might bring me back into the WW1 area of helmet collecting and the WW2 area has me broke all to often...

Stay in the WWII stuff Wade, according to the recent helmet collectors poll, the pool of sharks going in for the kill is rather small right now for WWI helmets, I'd like it to stay that way.
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Thats a great catch. I knew that they had existed but I've never seen one or even a picture of one in colour!! Excellent. :o

 

Rob

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You have one of the most difficult - near impossible - to find Adrian helmet in your collection !

Bravo !

 

Hi André,

 

You should know that, according to Napoléon 1°, "impossible" isn't a french word !

Here is mine, unfortunately unknown former WW1 owner :

 

2e69bwl.jpg

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Hi André,

 

You should know that, according to Napoléon 1°, "impossible" isn't a french word !

Here is mine, unfortunately unknown former WW1 owner :

Very nice! At least you still have the original liner, mine is missing it. Was the painted insignia done post war or by the AFS driver during the war or does this look like some kind of factory paint?

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Very nice! At least you still have the original liner, mine is missing it?


Do they make reproduction liners for these or would any old Adrian liner fit (given it's the proper size)? It's a shame, I have really been downsizing my collection to pay for a 1970 Cutlass for my junior year of his and I really miss buying helmets . I'm glad this went to you though, Scott. -Grant
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Wonderful addition to your collection, Scott! Congrats!!!! Get that liner replaced and you can wear it on your next motorcyle test run! :lol: Looks like you are on the road to recovery!
Semper Fi......Bob

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Wonderful addition to your collection, Scott! Congrats!!!! Get that liner replaced and you can wear it on your next motorcyle test run! :lol: Looks like you are on the road to recovery!

Semper Fi......Bob

Oh, your a funny guy Bob! Don't quit your day job. Yup, I'm doing pretty good in my recovery but, for the record, I was not wearing a helmet when I crashed. God watches over fools.

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Do they make reproduction liners for these...

It does have a reproduction liner in it, I hate reproduction in something like this, so, it's coming out and a real one will be put in.

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Very nice! At least you still have the original liner, mine is missing it. Was the painted insignia done post war or by the AFS driver during the war or does this look like some kind of factory paint?


Hi,

I'm not sure but believe the shield has been hand painted, may be by the owner.
It's ancient, surely from the era.
It has it's original liner, and I definitely agree with you, better nothing than a repro.

Foxy
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...I definitely agree with you, better nothing than a repro.

Agreed! Putting a reproduction liner in something this rare, is like putting a plastic frame around the Mona-Lisa. You just don't do it. ;)

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  • 2 months later...
Croix de Guerre

 

 

Hi André,

You should know that, according to Napoléon 1°, "impossible" isn't a french word !
Here is mine, unfortunately unknown former WW1 owner :

2e69bwl.jpg


Too sweet! :love:
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  • 4 years later...

Is the badge on the helmet designed for the AFS, or was it originally for something else? I wondered because I think another member has one with a different badge.

 

 

AFS.org has some digital photos available, and I did see some with helmets. You'd have to request high-resolution photos to see details though.

 

http://afs.metarhythm.com/archon/index.php?p=digitallibrary/thumbnails&thumbnailpage=1

 

post-14792-0-60260100-1433250760.jpgpost-14792-0-50487000-1433250764.jpgpost-14792-0-43161700-1433250765.jpg

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Is the badge on the helmet designed for the AFS, or was it originally for something else? I wondered because I think another member has one with a different badge.

 

My understanding is that these badges were provided by the French. There are also two different designs for these badges. Plus, I believe The ambulance drivers for Norton-Harjes(later part of the Red Cross) may have had something different. On top of that some drivers had an ordinary issue Adrian without the AFS badge.

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Is the badge on the helmet designed for the AFS, or was it originally for something else?

 

 

What might it have been designed for, other than the AFS?

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What might it have been designed for, other than the AFS?

 

I was curious if it was adopted from an existing design, or made specifically for the AFS. Considering the small amount of people involved, and the fact that most seemed to use the standard Adrian, it seems plausible that no badge was actually designed just for the AFS. Instead, perhaps existing badges were chosen to be used by some.

 

post-14792-0-77955600-1433264859.jpg post-14792-0-09193200-1433264859.jpg

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The two designs that you've depicted above are the two which were used by the AFS on their helmets. The first one is actually a WWII design and the second is a WWI design. I am not sure who designed them but, they were provided by the French to designate them as AFS volunteers. The first and second design are both based on the attributes found on the shield and eagle badge that was used on WWI AFS caps(shown below). By the way, the French army was extremely grateful that these volunteers had come to help.

AFS Hat Badge.jpg

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  • 4 months later...

UPDATE: It's been a few years since I originally posted this helmet but, because of some research that I saw on another forum about the AFS, I was able to track down photo's today of John Aubrey Gordon! I am jazzed to say the least!!! B)

09dad4a644cf4e7edd2e0dd7a337d51f_L.jpg
1_001_1_GORDON,JohnAubrey.jpg

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USMC-RECON0321

Now that takes your helmet to a whole other level - like "Top Shelf" level! Congrats. You owe someone a dinner on that one.

 

Congrats!

 

Troy

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