French Adrian Colonial Infantry - OPINION

[helmhunter]

Pic 3

[helmhunter]

Pic 4

[helmhunter]

The liner.

[helmhunter]

Hello Greg,
It's an interesting Adrian. A M1915 repainted between the wars and then received a vet front plate. It's a uncommon but not rare feature. Notice this helmet had certainly been hang on the wall (small hole in the rear visor).

By the way Ron,
Very sorry to have disturbed your thread.
Cheers.
Phil

[aterrasse]

Hi all,

very interesting point you made here Greg. I would not be surprised if the dark blue colour was superseded by more efficient camouflage arrangements in some units during WWI. I would still be interested to see some period evidence of that. Surely, the theory cannot be ruled out.

What I find quite striking about this new addition of mine is the chinstrap which is a clear M26 type one (as rightly pointed out by Phil). In close inspection I am positive that the chinstrap is completely original to the helmet (consistent wear and tear, etc.). Would that type of chinstrap be helpful to give any indication of time of reissue???

Look forward to hearing your views on that one.

BTW. nice artillery helmet Phil!!

Cheers

[Greg Wentzel]

French Adrian Colonial Helmet

Alex,

You are going to have to help me out on the issue of the chin strap. I am not clear as to difference other than the obvious thickness on your example. Is that the determining factor? I would agree that most of the war time examples that I have in my collection or have handled are quite thin, but I attributed that to the stretching and weathering that comes with years of hard field use. If there is something that I am missing in identifying postwar retrofitted Adrian chinstraps, please fill me in! Phil, thanks for posting my photos.

Regards,
Greg W.

[helmhunter]

Hi Greg,
You're welcome.
As for the adrian chinstrap the thickness is important. The WWI chinstrap is thin and the WWII type is thicker.
Notice also the WWI type is riveted and the WWII has a screw or a bolt to fix it.
Will post pics ASAP.
Hope it can help.
By the way Alex, thank you for your kind words but the artillery Adrian I posted belongs to Greg.
Cheers
Phil