In addition, the military style of the nineteenth century was still one of a fashion show and winners were often emulated. As the British Empire expanded other nations looked with envy and adopted similar uniforms and notably helmets.

Ironically one of the first to copy the British pattern was the United States, which looked to outfit its small army in seasonably appropriate uniforms. In the mid-1870s the United States Quartermaster at the time, Montgomery C. Meigs, contacted the British government to obtain cloth-covered cork helmets. These were first approved by the U.S. Army as the summer helmet for infantry and cavalry units, and over the next three years were issued experimentally to troops of the 9th Cavalry serving in Texas, and to troops at the Artillery School in Fort Monroe Virginia.  

Despite misconceptions that the American helmets were imported, these were in fact produced domestically by Horstmann Brothers and Company of Philadelphia. The first style of helmets, which has come to be known as the Model 1880 summer helmet had shorter front and rear bills than the British FSH, and it was constructed of cork and covered in white cloth with four seams – as opposed to the six seams of its British cousin. Reportedly only some six thousand were produced. 

The helmet was modified in 1887 and featured a steeper front bill and a much larger rear nape. It was produced in white drill cloth and then updated in 1889 with khaki cloth. Both these patterns of helmets remained in use with the American military, including U.S. Army and USMC units, through 1904. It saw service in the American Indian Wars, and in the Spanish-American War. However, the helmet was as unsuccessful to the Americans as it had been a success to the British. The American soldiers hated the helmet, and most helmets were discarded quite quickly.  

While many examples are encountered today that are described as “dress helmets,” the summer cork helmet was never intended to be used with insignia or trimmings. It seemed that it was not uncommon for officers to transfer the eagle, oak leaf base, side buttons and cords from the black helmet. However, this practice was officially banned in 1887. In addition, because helmets and accouterments were sold as surplus in the Bannerman catalogs for many years, it seems likely that many examples today were “pieced” together by collectors over the years. Trying to determine when a helmet was modified can be especially tricky today.     

It is also worth noting that it wasn’t just the Americans who adopted the British style headdress. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, many European nations began to expand their overseas empires, and this included lands in tropical or otherwise warm climate regions. Whilst soldier comfort had never been considered a cause for concern, armies of the day did begin to create “summer” or “warm weather” uniforms, and these included the sun helmet. 

In the final decades of the nineteenth century, the major powers of Europe introduced their own sun helmets. Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and Portugal all used a tropical sun helmet, and in the case of Italy, Belgium and Portugal it seems that British-made helmets may have been used until those armies were able to produce their own. Even the domestically produced helmets of these nations appear to closely rely on the British pattern. 

The rival powers of France and Germany, who did stand briefly together along with the other Europeans during the Boxer Rebellion, each authorized tropical sun helmets for their units serving in tropical climates. The first French pattern sun helmet was the Model 1878, and it was likely based on the British colonial pattern helmets that began to make an appearance earlier in the decade. These helmets featured a six-panel construction with a ventilator cap at the top. The helmets were covered in a light tan-colored canvas cloth, which was then colored white on the exterior.      

This helmet was refined only a few short years later with the introduction of the Model 1886 helmet, which earned the nickname the “sugar loaf” helmet because of its steep front visor. Photographic evidence suggests these helmets were used at the same time, and perhaps because of its short lifespan before being replaced this is why M78 helmets are far less common. Both helmets were used throughout the French colonial empire, and these helmets seemed well suited to the desert of North Africa to the jungles of Southeast Asia.       

These helmets are usually encountered with either an anchor or a flaming bomb. However, in the case of the former, it was not for the “navy” but rather the Troupes de Marine—the French Marine Infantry. This is because in the era of the Third Republic it was the law that French conscripts in the army could not be forced to serve outside Europe, but at the same time, there was a feeling that a volunteer force could be equated to an elite guard—the latter of which aided to Bonaparte emperors the throne. This explains why many of these helmets are found with the anchor for the Marine Infantry.   

While the British were to replace its colonial pattern helmet with the Wolseley by the end of the nineteenth century, the French pattern helmets remained in use until long after World War I, only being replaced by a Wolseley-influenced helmet in the early 1930s.

France’s rival and Britain’s future enemy, Germany, also looked to a place in the sun and outfitted its army with a variety of colonial-style sun helmets. Several versions were used from around 1890 through the end of the First World War. These were used in the German African colonies, in the Pacific region and in campaigns in Palestine. The first pattern helmet closely resembled the British Foreign Service Helmet, and it featured a Helmewappen (Front Plate) with the national colors cap cockade below the plate, while the later Model 1900 tropical helmet used Pickelhaube style cockades on the side of the helmet. With this model, it is believed that the only officers retained the Helmewappen on the front.      

While these helmets only lasted until the end of World War I when Germany lost its colonial empire, the Germans would introduce the infamous pith helmet for use with its Afrika Korps a generation later. 

Despite the fact that nearly every corner of the globe—with the exception of the former colonial territories of North and South America—fell under the power of the European “imperialists,” it wasn’t an era that lasted long. The rush for colonies began in earnest in the latter half of the nineteenth century and by the 1950s most of these lands were independent or so would be. The colonial helmets remain a reminder of that imperial legacy. 

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. 

This article first appeared in December 2020.

Image: Wikimedia Commons