British Mk1 helmet from Italian Front

[OldSteel]

Goodmorning everyone,
I share with you this helmet in my collection, it is a WW1 British Army Mk1, without the rubber ring under the felt and the structure of the liner made in natural leather, probably early production of 1916.
The helmet has been used but is in excellent condition, the shell is marked HH /A38 (Harrison Bros. & Howson of Sheffield) still has the original color at 100%, but with the time patina and slight traces of oxidation; one of rivets of the chin strap lugs has been replaced on field and assembled in the opposite position.
The liner is intact, the stamp of the War Office is no longer readable but remain visible traces of red ink that confirm its presence.
Unfortunately, as often happens in these helmets, the chin strap is lost, disintegrated by the elapsed time.
Find in my area a Mk1, used on the Italian front and in these conditions is already very rare, but what makes special this helmet, is the fact that inside is written the name of its owner: an Italian Artillery Captain of the “Corpo dei Bombardieri del Re” (Corps of King's Bombers); the soldiers of these special artillery units were dedicated to the use of a long series of “curved trajectory “weapons, which departed from Stokes grenade launchers and you came up with the huge mortars “bombarde” by 400 mm.
The Italian Army entered the war in 1915 but did not have a helmet, ran for cover buying some lots of French Adrian and then adopt the Mod.1916 helmet modeled on the Adrian line, so the use of other types of helmets has never been officially provided in the Regulation.
In my opinion it is a private initiative by this Italian Officer, probably obtained by the British Allies, or effect of an exchange of equipment between soldiers, in fact the relationship between Italian and British soldiers was always very good, and in particular the Artillery soldiers often shared the same positions, as you can see from the links below:
http://www.storiaememoriadibologna.i...gg_0993_01.jpg

http://www.openuniversity.edu/sites/...lian-front.jpg

I remember you that the British Army in November of 1917, deployed on the Italian front the XI and XIV Corps with five Divisions, in support to the Italians Army after the collapse of the front that follow the “Caporetto Battle”:
The British campaign in Italy 1917-1918

Their intervention together with that Frenchs and Americans was of great help during military operations but it was also useful to restore the morale of the Italians soldiers, so the Austro Hungarian and German troops were rejected on the Piave River line.
I thought it was very interesting to share with you this find, and also an opportunity to remember the British Soldiers dead in the fighting on the Italian Front in the years 1917-1918 and now they repose in various War Cemeteries in Veneto Region, between the Provinces of Vicenza and Treviso (Giavera del Montello, Boscon, Tezze sul Piave, Granezza, Dueville, Val Magnaboschi, Valle Barenthal, Cavalletto, Montecchio Precalcino), not far from the places where they fought their last battle.

Best Regards
Roberto

[Jerry B]

Great helmet Roberto and a great write up.

[OldSteel]

Great helmet Roberto and a great write up.

Thanks Jerry,
I am very glad to receive from an expert like you, this positive opinion.

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

That's a great helmet loaded with history Roberto, a helmet with a very interesting life and something you or I are never likely to come across again! Well done, fantastic piece. Leon.

[OldSteel]

That's a great helmet loaded with history Roberto, a helmet with a very interesting life and something you or I are never likely to come across again! Well done, fantastic piece. Leon.

Many thanks Leon,
actually I got lucky, find an object like this, used 100 years ago, does not happen often!

[ynot]

Exactly what Jerry and Leon said. Very nice find Roberto.

Tony

[OldSteel]

Exactly what Jerry and Leon said. Very nice find Roberto.

Tony

Hi Tony,
I knew you'd appreciate!

Thanks

[OldSteel]

Thanks Friends,
I am glad that you have appreciated this small study, as I said it seemed like a good opportunity to talk about the history of B.E.F. Italy, a significant presence with more than 100,000 soldiers who played a key role in the resolution of the War, a story in my opinion a little neglected which is discussed shortly.
On the Italian Front of WW1, although less known than the French Front, was fought a bloody war between Italian and Austro-Hungarians and both sides threw in combat assault troops of great level.
The only Italian fallen amounted to 650,000 men and many more were injured and maimed.
I found this link, even if written in Italian, shows many very nice pictures relating to British troops in Italy, but also of all other Armies present on Italian Front.
I hope it is interesting.

BRITISH ARMY

Regards
Roberto