I know Vickers for the aircraft they made, but I know the company also made Navy ships, canons and machine guns. However, there were in 1927 German WW1 helmets made by ‘Vickers’ for the Irish. Is the ‘helmet Vickers’ the same company as the ‘aircraft Vickers?’ Just received 2 of these helmets, so that’s why I am interested.
BW Roger
By: Maple 01 - 9th December 2010 at 07:32
I think they are quite rare, is there a slot on the front for a cap badge? The rumour at the time was Vickers used sub-standard steel making the helmets brittle so not a lot of use as intended
the Free State (as was) was quite embarrassed about how ‘Germanic’ the Defence force looked at one time and had thousands squashed and used as landfill. The UK government I believe shipped off a load of ‘Tommy’ helmets as replacements.
By: Whiskey Magna - 8th December 2010 at 17:11
I believe that Vickers received a large amount of armament machinery confiscated from the Germans after the 1918 armistice.
I seem to recall, from my target shooting days many moons ago, that one of the most desirable Luger P08 pistols for collecters was one from a small batch made by Vickers for the Dutch and issued to the East Indies. Apparently fit and finish was far superior to anything previousy produced in Germany, but they were as rare as “hen’s teeth” to find.
Could it be that these helmets came from a similar use of machinery from this source?
Rod
By: wieesso - 6th December 2010 at 22:10
Guess it was Vickers Ltd. (1867–1927) later became Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd.(1927–1977)
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December 6, 2010 at 8:24 pm