īrodie's design resembled the medieval infantry kettle hat or chapel-de-fer, unlike the German Stahlhelm, which resembled the medieval sallet. Aside from some newspaper articles, there is nothing to substantiate Bates's claim. Brodie's patent deals mainly with the innovative lining arrangements an engineer called Alfred Bates of the firm of Willis & Bates of Halifax, Yorkshire, manufacturer of Vapalux paraffin pressure lamps, claimed that he was asked by the War Office to find a method of manufacturing an anti-shrapnel helmet and that it was he who had devised the basic shape of the steel shell. It was constructed in one piece that could be pressed from a single thick sheet of steel, giving it added strength and making it simple to manufacture. A design patented by him in August 1915 offered advantages over the French helmet. John Leopold Brodie (1873–1945), born Leopold Janno Braude in Riga, was an entrepreneur and inventor who had made a fortune in the gold and diamond mines of South Africa, but was working in London at that time. British industry was not geared up to an all-out effort of war production in the early days of World War I, which also led to the shell shortage of 1915. They decided that it was not strong enough and too complex to be swiftly manufactured.
The War Office Invention Department was ordered to evaluate the French design. The idea was later adopted by most other combatant nations.Īt about the same time, the British War Office had seen a similar need for steel helmets. These rudimentary helmets were soon replaced by the Model 1915 Adrian helmet, designed by August-Louis Adrian. The first French helmets were bowl-shaped steel "skullcaps" worn under the cloth caps. The huge number of lethal head wounds that modern artillery weapons inflicted upon the French Army led them to introduce the first modern steel helmets in the summer of 1915. Soldiers of most nations went into battle wearing cloth, felt, or leather headgear that offered no protection from modern weapons. (Photo by Illustrations Harrow).Īt the outbreak of World War I, none of the combatants provided steel helmets to their troops. The French helmets are known as "Adrians," after their inventor. The fur coats, as they did last year, mean mitigation of the rigours of winter. Cases have occurred in which the wearers have been hit, but saved by these helmets from what without them would have meant certain death. Even in cases of extreme risk, not only has death been avoided, but injuries have been confined to bruises or superficial wounds. Our Army has now followed the French by adopting steel helmets, calculated to stop shell-splinters and shrapnel. But the danger, although it cannot be avoided, can be minimised.
Head-wounds have been more than usually numerous during the war, owing to the trench-fighting, and more than usually severe, owing to the extensive use of shrapnel. The Illustrated War News-17 November 1915