helmets

sorry i am new but i have a few questions.the steel pot helmets and other helmets used by americans in ww2.were they good for anything?did they stop bullets?why were they used.i am just curious.thanks......eric

 

Welcome to the Forum 1st Sergeant. I do not anythiung about how effective US helmets were - I do know that tank crews in the Mediterranean Theatre found the British version to be less than useful, preferring to wear the Black Beret instead - but I suppose with armour plate around us we did not face the dangers that did the infantry chaps.

All the best, Gerry

 

I think that the US helmet could stop grazing rounds and some angles of ricoshay.

 

Kind of similar to wearing a Hard hat on a construction site.

 

Aloha Everyone,

Can't speak for the WWII period, but I wore the M1 helmet during my tours in the 1970's (still have two of mine with the Vietnam woodlands camo cover & a haze grey USN M1). Never had to stop any shrapnel or bullets, but it did give me neckaches and cooked my skull in the noonday sun at sea.

I much prefered wearing the USN Mk II talkers helmets, as they were cork lined and larger, letting in the breeze (think Darth Vader for apperance).

Here are two excellent websites on US M1 Helmets of WWII. They were used from their introduction in WWII up until the 1990's when the Kevlar brainbuckets were issued.

Anchor's Aweigh
Craig

M-1helmet
excellent site, lots of photos including battle damage (and no, they do not stop slugs, just fragments)

U.S. MILITARY M-1 HELMET
Good historical background and development, including original manual diagrams.

 

thanks for your help guys!

 

GENERAL MONTGOMERY VISITS HIS AMERICAN GENERALS | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)



It depends ;-)

 

Steel helmets were originally introduced in WW1 because of the large number of head casualties caused by shrapnel or shell fragments. Very few would actually stop a bullet unless at a grazing angle.
Chris