Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Excellent rare example of a World War I M1915 French Army Infantry Officer’s Adrian helmet complete with a rare Officer’s Braided Leather Chinstrap and liner. The helmet was fitted with a Great War Veteran’s brass helmet plaque that reads: Soldat De La Grande Guerre 1914-1918 (Soldier Of The Great War 1914-1918).
The helmet retains the original dark horizon blue paint with original insignia of a large bomb and RF to the front. Size is approximately US 7 (56cm). Features a wonderful complete original first pattern leather liner in very good condition. Overall condition of the helmet is very good, shell shows some minor dings, scratches and paint chips consistent with age.
The M15 Adrian helmet (French: Casque Adrian) was a combat helmet issued to the French Army during World War I. It was the first standard helmet of the French Army and was designed when millions of French troops were engaged in trench warfare, and head wounds from the falling shrapnel generated by the new technique of indirect fire became a frequent cause of battlefield casualties. Introduced in 1915, it was the first modern steel helmet and it served as the basic helmet of many armies well into the 1930s. Initially issued to infantry soldiers, in modified form they were also issued to cavalry and tank crews. A subsequent version, the M26, was used during World War II.