M1915 Adrian helmet

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Another recent acquisition... an officer's Adrian helmet with veteran's plate and name. The liner is second pattern and the veteran's plate is inscribed with: 'COMMANDANT L Caillard.' The rank of Commandant is equivalent to 'Major' in the British army, and an officer of that rank would usually command a battery of guns. The repair to the liner appears to be period-done, and it looks like an attempt to make the liner a larger fit. Officers helmets are becoming increasingly harder to find, and named examples are rarely seen at all.

cheers,
Steve.

[Alan M]

What a great looking helmet , nice find Steve .

[HARRY THE MOLE]

What a great looking helmet , nice find Steve .

Purely by chance, I came across something in a French regimental history which lists a Lieutenant Caillard of 42 Battery. Highly unlikely to be the same man though! My man was definitely a Major, but at some point he would have been a lower rank!

Cheers,
Steve.

[ynot]

You'll be very, very hard pushed to find a better Mle. 15 than that and having the name on it too is the icing on top.

When were the brass plates handed out, for parades after WWII or in the 1920s/30s? Either way, you're probably correct about Lefty Caillard being a different person.

Tony

Quick edit: just a thought but if Lieut. Caillard stayed in the artillery he may have been promoted to Major at some stage and had his veterans plate engraved when he left the the army, perhaps even after WWII.

[HARRY THE MOLE]

Hi Tony,

As far as I am aware the veterans plates were done post-WW1. There are several 'Caillard's listed in the archives of 'Conscrits Militaires Atlantique,' and what makes it worst is that they all served in the artillery! I'm finding it hard to access the archives for other regions, so I'll have to do a bit more digging to find out what I'm doing wrong. As for the helmet, it is the only officer's helmet I have seen for sale at my local arms fair. It sits very well alongside my 'other ranks' Mle 15 - also badged to the artillery.

Cheers,
Steve.

[lebus12]

http://www.culture.fr/grandmemorial/resultats?lastname=caillard&exactLastname=1&firstn ame=&exactFirstname=1&search=D%C3%A9marrer+la+rech erche&town-all=&date-fixe-all=&date-debut-all=&date-fin-all=&town-birth=&date-fixe-birth=&date-debut-birth=&date-fin-birth=&town-recruitment=&date-fixe-recruitment=&date-debut-recruitment=&date-fin-recruitment=&town-residence=&town-death=&date-fixe-death=&date-debut-death=&date-fin-death=&select[]=%22MCC_TYPE;sourcestr4;registre%20matricule;Regis tre%20matricule%22

96!!

[lebus12]

Résultats / Recherche / Grand Mémorial / Généalogie / Accueil - Culture.fr

[lebus12]

Sorry, i can send the link, I saw 96 men with this name.

[lebus12]

If he was Louis, we have this paper


He was in the infantry and artilery. Good luck.

[No1canuck]

Steve what a lovely helmet! Congrats

Steve