French Model TTA 51

[Mark K]

I have seen few images of the Model 51 Tap being used in Indochina/Vietnam but am having a hard time finding period images of the TTA 51 being used by French troops early on in country I will keep digging around a bit more..

Regards Mark

[Watchdog]

I know I know a common seen helmet in a good number of collections but one I still needed to help round up the French section of my collection...

French Model 51 Nato type 2 dated to 1953 these were first produced in 1951 -1958 and were distributed in 1952 and seen active service up to the end of the 1980's..
This particular example is in unissued new like condition never seeing service it was manufactured by ( S.A.U.F. PARIS ) and is so marked in the dome..
They were produced in one size and manufactured from non magnetic manganese steel ( 11 to 14% ) the thickness varied from 1.2 to 1.3 mm thick...
The liner is a type 2 and is sporting a Riddel type suspension and is dated to 1958 they were manufactured from 1953-1960 it was produced by ( Celoron-Durochoc-Textolite and is so marked in the dome < FD > C )..

Regards Mark

Nice one Mark

This is great reference material for me.
As my "obsession" (to be truthful, it is obsession really) is general militaria with three or four main "axis" of interest I am not a helmet specialist but as a quick look through my posts will testify I am a bit of a sucker for "just one more interesting lid"
So, this kind of info is just the job!

Regards

Mark

[Tinhat]

did french troops wear these helmets in Vietnam or mainly the m1. i see in battle gears post ARVN soldiers did.

Mainly M1s due to the period of the war (1946 to 1954) there are some photos of the later reinforcements being issued with these, I would think the ARVN soldier shown with these using surplus left after French left. The M51 is more widely seen used in the Algeria campaign.
Steve.