A
combat helmet is a
helmet designed specifically for use during
combat. Helmets are among the oldest forms of
personal protective equipment, and are known to have been worn by the
Assyrians around 900BC, followed by the
ancient Greeks and
Romans, throughout the
Middle Ages, and up to the end of the 1600s by many combatants.
[1] Their materials and construction became more advanced as weapons became more and more powerful. Initially constructed from
leather and
brass, and then
bronze and
iron during the
Bronze and
Iron Ages, they soon came to be made entirely from forged
steel in many societies after about 950AD.
[2] At that time, they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with
swords, flying
arrows, and low-velocity
musketry.
Military use of helmets declined after 1670, and rifled firearms ended their use by foot soldiers after 1700.[1] By the 18th century, cavalry units often wore steel body cuirasses, and frequently metal skull protectors under their hats, called "secrets". The Prussian spiked helmet, or Pickelhaube, offered almost no protection from the increased use of heavy artillery during World War I, and in 1916 was replaced by the German steel helmet, or Stahlhelm, and afterwards it was worn merely for tradition.[3][4][5]
The Napoleonic era saw ornate cavalry helmets reintroduced for cuirassiers and dragoons in some armies; they continued to be used by French forces during World War I as late as 1915, when they were replaced by the new French Adrian helmet.[6] It was soon followed by the adoption of similar steel helmets by the other warring nations.
World War I and its increased use of heavy artillery had renewed the need for steel helmets, which were quickly introduced by all the combatant nations for their foot soldiers. In the 20th century, such helmets offered protection for the head from shrapnel and spent, or glancing, bullets.[7]
