The helmet illustrated below has been in my possession for many years. I used to wear it to keep my head warm when driving my car at night with the roof down! I thought that it is a tank helmet (but I don’t know why!). Recently a friend saw it and took the view that it may be a pre-war civil flying helmet. Can anyone help me by shedding light on whether it is a flying helmet and, if so, from what period it dates and who was the manufacturer? There is no label inside the helmet or any form of identification beyond a ‘tatto’, on the lower left front edge of the neck flap, which I can’t decipher and which will not reproduce well photographically (although you can just see it in the first photograph below).
By: avion ancien - 22nd June 2015 at 22:01
Fair point!
By: J Boyle - 22nd June 2015 at 21:29
Why would a motorcycling helmet have holes in it, broadly in the same place as the wearer’s ears?
Just a guess…to hear? 🙂
When he gets off the bike, he’d want to hear without taking the helmet off….it’s cold up there.
By: avion ancien - 22nd June 2015 at 21:09
Just one thought. Why would a motorcycling helmet have holes in it, broadly in the same place as the wearer’s ears? I’d assumed that these relate to some form of communication apparatus and I wouldn’t have thought that a military motorcyclist would have used such an apparatus on the move.
By: N.Wotherspoon - 22nd June 2015 at 20:42
Similar to WW2 Russian Flying helmets, but with the heavy collar piece almost certainly a motorcycle riders helmet – was going to say possibly Hungarian as have seen similar there, but the crown doesn’t fit as would probably have the Kossuth coat of arms the same as their helmets – not sure about Swedish as markings I have seen have had three crowns – though that was on post war equipment.
By: avion ancien - 22nd June 2015 at 17:48
I’ve now been told that the embossed mark is a Swedish crown and that this is not a flying helmet but a swedish military motorcyclist’s helmet dating from c. 1940!
By: Stepwilk - 22nd June 2015 at 17:12
Certainly not a tanker’s helmet. They were designed to cushion against getting knocked about inside the tank, not to guard against wind blast.
By: Arabella-Cox - 22nd June 2015 at 16:51
Anne…………..
That is not pedantry, that is accuracy…………….
By: avion ancien - 22nd June 2015 at 08:41
Thank you, Anne. If pedantry produces a more precise identification – bring on the pedants!
By: anneorac - 22nd June 2015 at 08:11
Posters on another forum opine that this is an Imperial German flying helmet. I only wish I could now remember where and when I acquired it!
Pedant alert!
Strictly speaking it’s not specifically an Imperial German Army bit of kit. The crown is wrong. It could be a bit of Bavarian Army bit of kit though. They were the second largest part of the Imperial German Army but swore allegiance to the King of Bavaria who’s crown looked very like the one on the helmet.
Everyone loves a pedant!
Anne
By: avion ancien - 21st June 2015 at 18:51
Posters on another forum opine that this is an Imperial German flying helmet. I only wish I could now remember where and when I acquired it!
By: avion ancien - 19th June 2015 at 19:18
Thank you, Mr Merry and JDH1976. It seems that I might have been warm after all! I’ll try to research the matter further.
By: JDH1976 - 19th June 2015 at 19:11
If you can get hold of a copy of vintage flying helmets by Mick Prodger you can see similar helmets on page 138. Basically great war flying kit was privately sourced from motoring outfitters and the like and there was no official pattern. I would say your helmet is of the type worn by German avaitors in WWI, the loop on top is fairly diagnostic. However the same basic type of helmet was continued to be made in the inter war period. Without firm proof it is possibly impossible to be 100% certain if this was ever used for flying. However paired with some nice goggles it would not look wrong for a WWI German display. It is a nice item.
By: Mr Merry - 19th June 2015 at 18:35
Going from ‘a bit here and a bit there’. German, civilian also military use, 1930’s to WW2 era. But I think you need an expert.
The internet gives so much conflicting information. I have tried to get the most popular opinions, auction houses, military collectables etc, rather than just ebay. Seems it could be worth a few quid.
By: Mr Merry - 19th June 2015 at 18:12
Nearest I have come up with so far is this;
By: avion ancien - 19th June 2015 at 16:54
Thank you, Anne and J Boyle. I had thought that I was getting somewhere. Now I’m not even sure that I was warm!
I think the time has come to try, as has been suggested, some other aeronautical and automobile fora. It’s just that it’s such a faff to have to sign up for a forum on which, in all probability, I’ll post on no more than a handful of occasions!
AA
p.s. the only open top vehicle that I now have is a tractor – and I’ll look pretty stupid driving that with the helmet on!
By: J Boyle - 19th June 2015 at 15:22
I’ve seen similar items in vintage auto magazines, someone makes new examples.
Just the thing if you have an Edwardian roadster…or even one of those new Morgans…I hear they have four wheels now!
You might also try a antique auto forum for information.
By: anneorac - 19th June 2015 at 14:22
Crown looks Belgian to me.
Anne.
By: avion ancien - 19th June 2015 at 14:05
Thank you, Alan and Tony. Despite the attribution of the helmet on eBay, all the other indicators have suggested to me that mine may be German and from the Great war era. However I’d hoped that the embossed crown and T3 might have been a ‘clincher’ for someone – despite my nil return when googling that!
By: TonyT - 19th June 2015 at 13:45
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WWI-British-Royal-Flying-Corps-Leather-Helmet-/161273627545
looks close
By: AlanR - 19th June 2015 at 13:17
Not sure if this was mentioned in one of the links or not ?
Since its founding on November 8, 1901, in Sonnborn (now a borough of Wuppertal)
Stocko has grown from a small fabrication operation to a company active around the
world. It is now a member of the YKK Group.
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June 18, 2015 at 6:18 pm