Real or Fake WW1 Adrian Helmet

[therno]

I was given this a few years back a did not give it much thought as to if it was the real thing or not. It obviously has a replacement liner. However is the rest of the helmet real? Was it a real helmet that had simply been "resorted"Attachment 57057Attachment 57058Attachment 57059Attachment 57060Attachment 57061Attachment 57062Attachment 57063

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[therno]

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[Harlan (Deceased)]

It is SO sad that many people try to "restore" so many helmets from all areas of WWI and WWII combat.... Mostly all the value they had is usually lost by modifying them..

Hopefully an expert of WWI Adrian Helmets will contribute as far as the outside of the helmet being authentic. There were so many helmets from all other countries such as many German associates that looked similar to each other you need to be an expert on everyone one them to know; even through WWII. Many helmets are still being 'faked' today....

Good, original helmets from all nations can be worth thousands of dollars, but most you come to see on-line, etc are nearly worthless reworked fakes of one type or another.

[gew8805]

It appears to be a legitimate M15 Adrian from WW1 in untouched condition. True, someone added a good quality reproduction liner which, if found objectionable, can be easily removed, returning it to the condition it was likely found. Few WW1 French M15 helmets still have a liner, as with all leather objects, they were fragile and age is rarely kind, especially if not carefully maintained.

[RT Ellis]

I was curious about the badge as I recognized it is not the standard French Army insignia, that does display the "RF" for Republic of France, but has the addition of an anchor in the design.

From a very brief review of Adrian helmets online I concur this is a model 1915 (because of the construction of the edge from separate pieces). I did find an interesting story behind the cap piece that by WWI was worn by French colonial troops, which is the information I was interested in.

Short of declaring the helmet authentic, my uneducated opinion is it is authentic, that someone probably relined and used it as a safety helmet. It would be interesting to know if a colonial troops cap badge would be more valuable than any of the several other cap badges that were used on Adrian helmets, and therefore worth the effort to replicate.

[gew8805]

French Adrian helmets had a variety of standard badges, as issued by France. The standard and most common is a flaming bomb with the letters "RF", others for Artillery have the "RF and Bomb" superimposed over crossed cannon, the French Navy issued a badge showing and anchor only. The one illustrated - "Bomb/RF superimposed over an Anchor" represents Colonial Infantry, a not rare but much less common badge than the standard "RF Bomb". The badge makes this desirable to collectors.

For a good list of the badges used by France - and others - see Brendon's Helmets website under "France M15", it is linked here:

France M15 - Brendon's Helmets

The list of illustrations of branch of service plates is accurate.

[therno]

Thanks for all the info it is very helpful. I knew about the badge being for colonial troops from French West Africa.

[gew8805]

Thanks for all the info it is very helpful. I knew about the badge being for colonial troops from French West Africa.

And thank you for showing us your example.