Addendum: Soviet Fire/Civil Defense Helmet
Not truly a combat helmet, this item should be classified in the same category as the Leningrad "Tommy" helmet: Civil defense in the most active sense. This unique helmet, with its very large rivets, was originally thought to have been a pre-revolutionary Tsarist fire helmet. Acquisition and close inspection of an example of this extremely rare piece has made pre-revolutionary origins somewhat doubtful, because it is made of aluminum alloy. Although there was a small Russian aluminum industry before 1917, during WW I it was devoted almost exclusively to making very limited examples of Russian military field equipment. Fire fighters' helmets would have come pretty low on the priority list.

As can be seen in the photos, the helmet was made of three pieces, including a long neck-protective bill. The fire fighter version of civil defense helmet also included a substantial comb, considered important for protection against falling timbers and other debris. The air raid warden's job in most cities of the USSR was to deal immediately with German incendiary bombs, thus many of the CD helmets did not bear the comb.
The leather liner is rather well-designed and the chin-strap made with stability in mind. The buckle is a prong type and also made of aluminum.

Below is a photo of the helmet (still with comb attached) being used by two young women acting as air raid wardens on the rooftop of a building in Leningrad, during the siege. The helmet gave virtually no lateral protection, but that was never intended.

This helmet is among the most rare ever produced in the USSR and never had a very wide distribution. Thanks to Rimma and Pavel for making the helmet available and to Paolo Marzetti for locating the photograph.
Back to Addenda page

Back to Russian Helmets homepage