Some More British Helmets

Winston1

Member
Here are two more helmets from my collection,

This is a volunteer artillery helmet. It isn’t in great condition and the wear can definitely be seen upon inspection of the helmet. It still retains its original silk liner although half of it has come detached. It is unnamed, has no specific unit markings, and there's even a blank manufacturer's label, my luck.

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A 51st Light Infantry green cloth helmet made by Hawkes & Co. It is in good condition with no indication of an owner. There is minor damage to the helmet and the liner is torn in places. There is another set of holes where the plate attaches so it is likely the plate was replaced at some point with the 51st one. Of course there is always the possibility they just miscalculated the measurements and had to cut new holes. Forgive the weird angle it is at, the helmet cannot stand up by itself very well.

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Indeed, I really like them, very nice condition :)
They look absolutely fine to me!

Thank you for sharing them with us. :bravo:

Greetings, Coert.
 
Hi Nicholas,

Nice pieces.

Even if it’s not original to the helmet, the 51st plate is rare and a great piece to have in a collection. As far as extra holes are concerned, I might give them the benefit of the doubt if the plate on the helmet was of the King’s Crown era, and could be a replacement for the Queen Victoria Crown plate,following her death, or if you could find evidence of an officer transferring from one regiment to another. Otherwise, I would assume that the original plate has been taken off for some reason related to collecting and replaced with another.

The first home service helmet l bought was for the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, a descendant of the 51st. I didn’t realise it was a green cloth as the colour is so dark until I bought my second helmet, a blue cloth, and could see a difference. Green cloths, usually to Light Infantry units, are not easy to find.

I particularly like the volunteer helmets with silvered or white metal fittings. The only artillery helmet I have is a 7th Lancashire Volunteer Artillery Volunteers. Very like yours to look at, but with the unit title on the plate.

Patrick
 
Hello Patrick,

Thank you for your advice regarding extra plate holes. When I first noticed them, I wasn’t happy, but as you said, the 51st plate is something rare and interesting to have. When I started to collect home service helmets, a green cloth was at the top of my list, and I am very happy to own this one now. Speaking of the Lancashire artillery volunteers, I do have a Victorian uniform set to Captain Musgrave of the 9th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers. No home service helmet unfortunately. I also like the look of the white metal fittings on helmets, especially when they still shine like new as your artillery helmet shows.

Nicholas
 
Great to see we have your photos back once again gentlemen and I also love these home service helmets even though, I have never owned one. :thumb up: A question question regarding the wheel on the Arty canon plate....does this wheel turn? The reason I ask is that back in the day when I collected CEF WW1 cap badges I was told that an Arty wheel that turned meant that it was an officer cap badge.
 
Brian

The wheels on these plates don’t turn, at least not that I’ve ever seen.

In the past I’ve had artillery Other Ranks cap badges with turning wheels, and also badges with fixed wheels. It may be that officers had badges with turning wheels as a matter of course, but the main ways to tell an officer cap badge from an OR is the bronze finish and the fact that they have bendable blades, rather than sliders or lugs. I’m talking about British badges here- don’t know if all this is true of Canadian.

Patrick
 
The wheel on my artillery plate doesn’t turn and I haven’t seen any others that do. But I will keep my eye out in case I see something.
 
The wheel on my British officer's Home Service Helmet most certainly does NOT turn. I've seen plenty of cap slider badges where the wheel does turn however.
 
As a Gunner I can't help but chime in.

Yes officer's badges in the Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Artillery normally have a wheel that is a seperate piece and often they turn.

There are gilded badges for officers for dress uniforms but generally, yes the bronze badges were also for officers only, Other Ranks wear shiny brass. I have attached a few pictures and as you can see I do collect a few Artillery badges.

The khaki Forage Cap in the one picture is mine from my time as an Instructor-In-Gunnery here in Canada. The one Officer badge in the photo with the black background is a gilded officer's badge with a seperate wheel. It doesn't turn as it is a bit too tight.

By the way I love the Home Service Helmets and would love to get my hands on an Artillery one.....

Cheers.

Peter
 

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And here is a picture of my Grandfather in his World War One Artillery,uniform with the cap badge he would have worn in the front.

He was a Gunner / Driver (even though he looks a bit like an officer in that uniform) hence no separate wheel.

His badge has Canada at the top instead of "UBIQUE" as at that time the Royal Canadian Artillery (RCA) had not yet been granted the right to wear UBIQUE by the British. The RCA did so well in World War One they were then granted that honour. In fact General McNaughton, A famous Canadian Gunner, taught the British a thing or two basically inventing Locating and Counter Battery Fire amongst many other technical advances.

UBIQUE
 

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I have an early Edwardian volunteer artillery cap from the 9 Lancashire Artillery Volunteers. It is the only Edwardian item from the uniform set of Captain Musgrave I mentioned earlier. It was made by Hobson & Sons and hidden behind the label there is a newspaper, probably to offer extra cushioning. It also still has its original chinstrap and weather cover as shown in the pictures. The badge’s wheel does not turn, although it does seem to be a separate piece from the rest of the badge.

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Peter,

You have an awesome collection and having your own cap to go along with it must make it 100 times better. The cap badge from your grandfather is really cool and its amazing that that’s been kept safe for all this time. I couldn’t help but notice that you have a malta artillery badge. The malta militia and artillery have some really unique and interesting badges.

Nicholas
 
Thanks guys. That Edwardian Cap is really neat.

It's interesting to see that the Volunteer and other badges I have seen around the internet, that are not regular "Royal Artillery", also do not have UBIQUE and seem to have their own mottoes or names in the band. The Malta badge only has a motto at the bottom in what I assume is a Maltese language.

Cheers.

Peter
 
Nice Royal Artillery Home Service helmet for sale here. If you are in the US.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-BRITISH-VICTORIAN-OFFICER-S-HOME-SERVICE-HELMET-ROYAL-ART-/303769131070?pageci=d9e6ded4-ecf3-4d48-b957-e5ae8210ca59
 
Thank y’all for sharing the pictures and history of British spiked helmets and the Royal Artillery hats and badges. :thumb up:
 
So I have a British Home Service helmet on the way and want to get a stand for it. Can anyone tell me the height of the helmet? I am looking at a stand that measures 13.4 inches from the base to the top of the dome part on top.

Thanks.

Peter
 
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