WW2 US Tank Crew Helmet

[Gildwiller1918]

Here is the helmet that US tank crews wore in WW2. This helmet was approved and adopted in 1941, although it is designated the M38, which stood for 1938, the year in which the project was launched to develop a suitable helmet. The helmet itself is designed to protect crew from impact inside or outside the vehicle and offer no protection against weapons. The outer shell is made from a fiber resin, with padded leather pads inside. The helmet was painted a drab olive color, although the liner was left its natural leather color. The helmet also has holes in the ear flaps to add headphones to work in conjunction with a throat mike, allowing the crew to stay in contact with each other. This helmet has the R-14 earphones in the proper slots. The helmet also has on each side, a curved metal spring covered in green leather, this was used to put pressure on the headphones to force them closer to the wearers ears while in the tank as it was extremely loud inside. Several companies that made this helmet were Rawlings Manufacturing Corporation, Sears Saddlery Company, Wilson Athletic Goods Manufacturing Company, and A.G. Spaulding & Brothers.