French Air Force M37 helmet

[Redstalker]

Hi guys here I have M37 French Air Force helmet. It's design is similar to the M35 helmet which was used by tank crews, armoured vehicles crews, despatch riders etc. When the French Air Force took up the M37 the colours adopted were blue and black. The liner system and front bumper were also changed to black for the airforce (previously a brown tan colour on other models). There are 2 stamps on this helmet one in white '57' size. Another stamp in black but illegible which is probably the date stamp You don't see many of these come up for sale very often and this one I picked up about 10 years ago. Thanks for looking guys

[Tinhat]

Great helmet

[OldSteel]

Very nice and not very common

Roberto

[Greg Pickersgill]

I do not think you are right in believing that the shell is the same for the mle35 and mle37. I am open to correction (please do!) but as I understand it the 35 has a much larger and more acutely angled nape shield which is very different in the later model, where it is much smaller and only very slightly angled from the horizontal. What I mean is, if we were to see a 35 and 37 together on a flat surface the 35 would sit much higher at the back with obvious daylight along the midsection, whereas the 37 would lie almost (not quite) flat by comparison.

I have four mle37 - at least one of which I bought believing it to be a 35, because this is hard to make out in photographs. (Photos also seem to show that the 35 is designed to sit quite horizontally on the head whereas the 37 appears designed to sit at something of a backward angle.)

Anyway, these are very interesting helmets, the middle period of line which starts with the mle19 tank helmet introduced at the end of the 14-18 War, then the mle 23, the 26/27, the 26/31, the 35/37, then the mle 36 DCA, and ending with the mle45 Jeanne D'Arc (my personal favourite). There is also a mle41, produced in Vichy France during the 39-45 War, which is rare verging on non-existent; photographs purporting to be it exist, but I don't think anyone actually has one; it is apparently very like the Jeanne d'Arc. All of them have common factors, loke the front bumper and the nape-shield, and are all roughly the same shape, some with typically French crests some without.

Most of these are seriously hard to get and would cost real money! I don't have them, but even if I had the cash they would be very hard to find. The Jeanne d'Arc is perhaps the most common, and the 37 (not the 35) comes up comparatively frequently.

See here for good comparison photos of the 35 and 37 - .: World War Helmets - Casque Modèle 35 :.

[Redstalker]

Thanks Greg just looked over this site and you are definitely right about the nape. I have edited my description as not to give the wrong info about this helmet. I should have worded my description better This is what I appreciate about this forum and the members here at warrelics. I have learnt so much since becoming a member here

[ynot]

Might be a silly question but what are the holes punched in each side of the dome for, air circulation?

Just looked at the link again and imagine events d'aération means ventilation/circulation

Tony

[Greg Pickersgill]

Quite right Tony, just simply ventilation. Should you ever see 'aeration' mention anywhere in connection with a French helmet it means vent holes/slots/whatever.