French M78/F1 Lègion Etrangère

[OldSteel]

Hello everyone,
I want to show to you this French M78/F1 of "Lègion Etrangère".
Time ago I met a former a ex Italian legionnaire and when he learned that I was a collector gave me a box with pieces of his old equipment, among whom was the helmet, that he had kept as a souvenir.
He told me that with this configuration was the one he had used in combat during the French intervention at Chad in 1983-84; of course I appreciated and I thanked him.
It appears in very good condition and when I clean it, inside I found still red sand, traces of the places where he had been.
The green cover is held in place by a rubber band and behind it's visible the gost left by colored triangle in which the unit number was indicated; inside it's marked: GIAT-ARS 1979.
I did a little research on this war, that actually confirms the use of this configuration, in some image of this video, found in You Tube, are visible helmets like this.
https://www.google.it/url?sa=i&rct=j...54842752535516



Greetings
Roberto

[Tinhat]

Nice to get a confirmed Legion helmet.

[James C]

Very nice indeed roberto ,i like this one very much i believe the cover would be a sateen 300 jacket hood ,thanks for showing

[Gunny Hartmann]

A nice find!...

[OldSteel]

Thanks to you, James
I did not know that the coverage was obtained by a jacket hood!

Cheers
Roberto

[Opex]

As an avid collector of Lègion Etrangère militaria in general, I particularly like this example , though it does appear to be practically unused judging by the cleanliness of the sweatband and chin-cup inner which normally show's signs of sweat and grime, however with the provenance this makes for a highly collectable item, there should be more F1 helmets displayed on this site in my opinion as they are a huge contributor to the 20th century development of the casque.

Thanks for showing it here, Opex.

[OldSteel]

Thanks Opex,
I'm glad you appreciated this example, considered that you are a Legion collector, I might add another souvenir of that war, belonged to the same owner of helmet.
I'm no expert but this canteen should be part of Legionaires equipment of that period.

Cheers
Roberto

[James C]

very nice roberto ,i have a similar canteen as part of the kit on my operation daguet display circa 1990/91

[OldSteel]

Congrats James, as always you show nice things, and I particularly appreciate your ability to study the various topics with full uniforms.

Roberto

[James C]

many thanks Roberto ,my canteen cap chain has been deliberately wrapped in tape for reasons im unsure