British pith helmet

**Jerry B** · 09-10-2012, 09:38 AM

by reneblacky

Just a meek question Jerry, how come the pictures I see in this post won't open up in a new window in closer detail?
This one has a foil liner, similar to my Brit slouchy and I haven't seen this before

Hi Rene,

That is because they are the sellers pics and they are very small in size. I will post bigger ones when it arrives.

About the foil lining, it is the first one of this type that I have seen with a foil lining, but two of my other pith helmets are foil lined and according to research I have undertaken, it was only done in the 1941-1942 period in WWII and also only for a year or two in WWI as well.

If you look in the thread on my tropical helmet collection linked in my signature there are two examples of foil lined British pith helmets, one on the first page and one on the last page.

**Jerry B** · 09-10-2012, 09:42 AM

by Battery Command Post

Nice of you to say

The source i used to double check the terminology was Brian Davis' British Army Uniforms & Insignia of World War Two. Davis pretty much wrote this book by quoting from official documents and army orders, so it's usually a good bet. Apart from that, it's mostly my own notes and references that I have hashed together over the years. It's not a very well documented subject.

One thing you have to accept is that the military in WW2 were very bad in NOT using the proper nomenclature for their stuff, so the AB64 reference doesn't surprise me

The proper name for the other style of pith helmet is actually the Universal Foreign Service Khaki Helmet, but they never call it that. I think "pith helmet" is the generic name for all of them.

Rob

Thanks Rob and I don't have the BL Davies book, though I have a few of his books on German items. I did look into buying it a while back but did not.

**aj4010** · 09-10-2012, 09:50 AM

I've always wondered about the foil lining, it can't have been much of an insulator, what was the thinking behind it?

Best Regards,

Andy

**Jerry B** · 09-10-2012, 10:02 AM

by aj4010

I've always wondered about the foil lining, it can't have been much of an insulator, what was the thinking behind it?

Best Regards,

Andy

I assume they thought it would reflect the heat away, but more likely to reflect it inwards IMO and that is probably why it was discontinued.

**Jerry B** · 09-10-2012, 04:44 PM

Hi Rob, I did some more research and went back to a linked website that I forgot I had -I have way too many bookmarked links to keep track of them- and I found this which suggests it might be earlier than I first thought, though I still think it is more likely to be thirties or forties in date.

Hat, Pith, Khaki, Solar | Military Sun Helmets

**Battery Command Post** · 09-11-2012, 02:46 PM

I would agree. It has all the hallmarks of the 1938 military regulation hat, rather than the semi-official 'cawnpore'.

Rob

**Jerry B** · 09-12-2012, 04:24 PM

It arrived today and some pics, it has one end of the chinstrap that has come loose and has some markings under the sweatband, a circular mark that I have yet to decipher and another mark, N No. 41.

**Jerry B** · 09-12-2012, 07:35 PM

Following research on the Slouch hat that came from the same seller and which is likely to have belonged to the same person, which had one of the names written on it traceable to a member of the RAOC, it is possible that the flash is for the RAOC, though this has yet to be confirmed.