Post World War I
From 1936 the Mark I Brodie helmet was fitted with an improved liner and an elasticated (actually, sprung) webbing chin strap. This final variant served until late 1940 when it was superseded by the slightly modified Mk II, which served the British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II. Several Commonwealth nations, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, produced their own versions of the MK II, which can be distinguished from those made in Britain. During this period, the helmet was also used by the police, the fire brigade and ARP wardens in Britain. The helmets for the ARP wardens came in two variations, black with a white "W" for wardens and white with a black "W" for Chief Wardens. A civilian pattern was also available for private purchase, known as the Zuckerman helmet, which was a little deeper, but made from ordinary mild steel.
In 1944, the British replaced it with a significantly modified design known as the Mk III "Turtle" helmet.
The U.S. Army used the basic Brodie-patterned M1917 helmet until 1942 with some modifications, which included a totally new liner and canvas chin strap. It was finally superseded by the M1 Helmet in 1942.
The helmet was the inspiration for the name of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (or the MOTH), a brotherhood of front-line ex-soldiers founded in 1927 by Charles Evenden.
Read more about this topic: Brodie Helmet
Famous quotes containing the words post, world and/or war:
“My business is stanching blood and feeding fainting men; my post the open field between the bullet and the hospital. I sometimes discuss the application of a compress or a wisp of hay under a broken limb, but not the bearing and merits of a political movement. I make gruel—not speeches; I write letters home for wounded soldiers, not political addresses.”
—Clara Barton (1821–1912)
“But ice-crunching and loud gum-chewing, together with drumming on tables, and whistling the same tune seventy times in succession, because they indicate an indifference on the part of the perpetrator to the rest of the world in general, are not only registered on the delicate surfaces of the brain but eat little holes in it until it finally collapses or blows up.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“In peacetime, they had all been normal decent, cowards, frightened of their wives, trembling before their bosses, terrified at the passing of the years, but war had made them gallant. They had been greedy men. Now they were self-sacrificing. They had been selfish. Now they were generous. War isn’t hell at all. It’s man at his best, the highest morality he is capable of.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)