Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

[Terry Mcann]

Couldnt sleep last night due to the bloody heat so my mind started wandering and got me thinking apart from the Parachute Regiment(and a few pics of Gurkhas) I dont think i have seen many if any pics of Infantry and Royal Marines using steel helmets during the conflict????

[Ian IWG]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

There are a few pics of the guards using MkV helmets, I was watching the 1987 programme 'Falklands the untold story' yesterday on you tube at work and there was some video of just landed troops all in MKV's but could not identify who or what they are. Not sure I have seen any pics of the Royal Marines in helmets but understand they where issued with a mix of MkV's and the Navel version of the old WW2 para/AFV type helmet, don't know designation, sorry. I'll have a look tonight but think I have a pic of some Royal Engineers in MkV's.

[Terry Mcann]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

Seen the odd MKV but struck/strikes me as odd that so many went into combat wearing berets.

[Ian IWG]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

I've read a few opinions on why this was, they range from the helmets being cold, steel ones, atleast. to the para's just wanting to look the muts nuts. These are just bits of info read over the years. I do not know and make no claim to know the true reason, but you have me curious now lol. So next time I'm in the local surplus store I will ask the owner as he was a para GPMG gunner their. But there' s got to be someone more knowledgeable than me on here that knows.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

Two reasons berets were worn a lot.

One was that it was easier to identify friendlies at night (as most the battles were fought at night)

Secondly steel helmets are arse all use against small arms fire and actually hamper you in an assault. if you're too close to be shelled (as in they would hit their own positions) you're not much like to be hit by 'sub velocity fragments' (thats bits of brick, stone, fence post etc to you civvies) that are what actually kill most people when bombarded.

essentially if you're on the attack at night it makes a lot of sense to do it fast, quiet and in soft hats. Wearing a steel helmet affects your hearing and vision to a degree.

Photo wise, most pics will be staged and its a morale thing.

If there was ever a battle in the campaign with the argentinians on the offensive and the brits dug in you'd have seen a *lot* more pics of guys wearing lids.

[Ian IWG]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

Cheers Gadge, just goes to show that some of what is written in articles is pants . Started having a read through some books etc last night, and found a bit about Berets being for attack and helmets for defence. This was in WW2 but fits in along the lines of what your saying.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

Like i say, compare it to the vietnam war. How many lads wore flak jackets on patrols, next to none... heavy, cumbersome, restrictive and not going to stop a soviet 7.62 round.

In a static position on a firebase or on a PBR... loads worn as you're more likely to take the sort of fire it's designed to stop.

I think tbh with berets, like i say many of the pics are 'hooray we won' staged pics and the MOd wanting to play up the hard image of the paras and marines, another part of it will be the fact like i say it's easiser to recognise the silouhette of friendlies at night but most importantly if you're sneaking up on enemy trenches at night you want full vision and hearing and you dont want a few kg of metal on your head that isnt going to stop bugger all thats shot at you at less than 100 metres.

If you look at the pics of the scots guards after tumbledown, they've clearly changed into 'regimental headress' where possible for the photos as I *seriously* doubt that one of them went into battle wearing a glengarry.

we used to wear soft hats for recce patrol and night patrols. That was in the 90s though.

http://www.militariarg.com/uploads/4...364188.jpg?696

check out the guy in the middle in a glengarry... piper?

In contrast pre battle and waiting to move up see these ghurkas, some appear to be wearing helmets.

http://www.naval-history.net/FpGurkhaTumbledown.JPG

[nice_guy_andy]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

That young lad sitting next to the piper in the middle, wearing the beret with the blacked out capstar was my Company Sergeant Major.
I was told that the British forces ditched their tin pots due to identifaction reasons (no tin pot=Brit).

[Giddo]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

As most people have said, berets were mainly used. But here is what the forces would of had helmet wise-

Paras- M76 Fibre or WW2 Style Steel
Marines/Navy- Same as Para WW2 Style, but different liner
Gurkhas- Turtle Helmets
Other Infantry- Turtles (Rarely worn as looked rubbish) or Para helmets (Nicked from P Company if they did it)

[Gadge Europa]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

I'd agree with most of that but i've yet to see many if any pics of line units wearing para helmets. The guards division pretty much was entirely equipped with MKV helmets like the rest of the British Army of the time.

There may have been one or two guys with para lids but they would have been few and far between. I really dont think anyone was fussed about what they looked like tbh...

[Terry Mcann]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

On the subject of Para Helmets and maybe a bit trivial but a pet peev of mine-there is no such thing as an M76.

[Gadge Europa]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

The marine pattern helmet is actually more like the WWII RAC late war helmet AFAIR, same shell, but single elasticated chinstrap with QRF buckle and LTD liner attachment.

[Giddo]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

M76 helmet-

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...Helmet-(-M76)&

Yes the marine pattern ones were the same as the RAC ones.

[Terry Mcann]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

known by the collectors designation "M76"(quoted from the link)

The term M76 is a collectorism along with such things as 66,68,77etc etc Patt DPM

The British Army/Military dont use the designation M??,its an American thing.

[Hawke]

Re: Steel Helmets Worn during the Falklands Conflict.

Hawke Sr was down south and he had a turtle helmet. It's now in his garden, as a birdbath. He was 3Bde HQ then, and I have seen photo's in Stonehouse Sgt's Mess and the "Navy" pub on the Barbican of members of both Brigade HQ, 3BAS and 8Bty, 29 (Cdo) Reg RA wearing turtles. When I was on HMS Fearless in the late 80's, what are mistakenly called Para helmets, but were more accurately RAC helmets were to be found on the LCVP's and in the Bofors guns positions.