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Essay Seven
The Helmet, Steel, M-1
The WWII American helmet came in two parts, the helmet liner and the steel shell. The
liner was made of some hard composition and painted OD (olive drab) the nondescript greenish
brown of most army issue clothing and equipment. I suspect it was the ancestor of the hard hat
worn by construction workers. It did not rest directly on the cranium, but was suspended on an
adjustable sweatband which fitted around the head and a harness which rested on top of the
skull, leaving a space between scalp and helmet through which the breezes blew. This was a
great comfort in the summer heat, but a hazard to health in the winter. Eventually a wool knit
cap was issued to be worn under the liner to prevent frostbite of the scalp. It was essentially a
skull cap with a very short bill, too trifling to be of any use except to indicate where the front
was.
The helmet liner was often worn by itself, and made a very comfortable lightweight
headgear, protecting the head from rain and sun alike. I ran into one problem: during our time on
the California desert, I found my hair unbearable in the 130° heat, so I went to the battery barber
and asked him to run the clippers right over the top, leaving me bald. After making me repeat
the instructions several times to make sure I really meant it, he complied. As soon as the bristles
had grown out 1/16", the helmet harness started chafing my scalp, and the itch and irritation
went on for a month. I didn't think until years later that I could have worn my wool knit cap to
cushion it - and died of heat exhaustion.
In combat, and even maneuvers, we added the steel shell, a thin layer of metal, also
painted OD, but with a rough pebble-dash outer surface. Its addition made the helmet heavy
enough to strain the neck of anyone who, like me, wore a size 14 collar. The shell fitted over the
liner snugly enough to prevent any worry about their falling apart, but was readily removable for
use as a bucket for washing and shaving. We were cautioned not to heat water in it, because
exposing it to fire would take the temper out of the steel and weaken it, so that it would be less
bullet-proof.
Each section of the helmet had a chin strap to hold it on in a high wind. The one on the
liner was of light leather, and could be worn stretched over the front of the helmet when the
wind was not blowing. The steel shell had a heavier cotton webbing strap, a suitable handle
when using it as a bucket. When you wore it, however, the strap was secured around the back of
the helmet. We were explicitly forbidden to wear it under the chin. If the concussion of a
bursting shell was strong enough to knock it off, it was also strong enough to break your neck if
the helmet were secured by a chin strap. Not using the strap meant that if you hit the dirt
quickly, the helmet might arrive later than you did, and either bounce on your head or fall off
entirely and have to be retrieved, but that beat having your neck broken.
During training everyone was taught that if you were captured, you might give the enemy
interrogator your name, rank, and serial number, but nothing else. Particularly, you were not to
mention the unit to which you belonged, because that information would help the enemy figure
out what all they were facing.
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