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James H


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More French uniform curiosities.
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A kind gentlemen in Spain has sent me this pic of a French artilleryman in the experimental reseda uniform. he seems to be wearing a cuirassier/fireman style helmet. Then this helmet appears in the mystery objects column of Militaria magazine. Is there a link between these and the helmets shown in this earlier thread: http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=63528&p=3&topicID=14154961



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Centurion


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I think that the drawing may be in error. The Reseda helmet was indeed based on the Paris Sappers and Pumpers helmet. See photo for a good shot of the uniform on trial

http://forum.axishistory.com/download/file.php?id=48358&sid=9db0e174dc9d715ccc27c6c7807523e9

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James H


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Centurion; thank you kindly. That is an excellent pic. The helmet reminds me of the Alien films from certain angles.

Since there are rifles and packs in the pic, and the men are wearing greatcoats, that implies that they are infantry in tenue de campagne. I still haven't quite worked out the postcard, but the reseda clearly had a grande tenue with epaulettes, etc, so a plume wouldn't be out of the question. I think it's safe to say that the bloke in the drawing is not necessarily an artilleryman, if the helmet was issued to all arms. Where would the cork helmet fit into the scheme of things, then? Walking out order?

It also suggests that the French were, at least briefly, well ahead of other armies in contemplating metal headgear, even if it was somewhat grandiose in style and overly symbolic. 

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Centurion


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I had thought that cork refered to the colour of the uniform.

If they took off the metal cheek pieces (folded in the photo) and the crest (which looks detachable) then they'd have a workable helmet.

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James H


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I had thought that cork refered to the colour of the uniform.

We discovered from the postcard that the other helmet was made from liège - cork, the material as opposed to cork as in bottle. I suspect that it was actually pith or sola.

The Tenue Réséda is covered in a book on French uniforms that I've seen, but it's monstrously expensive. I'll try to find out if Militaria mag has done anything on it.

P.S. The blue helmet is, apparently, an officer's French M1915 cavalry issue, the last issue before the arrival of the Adrian. It's a M1874 with the ridge added and a paint job.

The book with the Réséda is by Laurent Mirouze and Stéphane Dekerle, 500+ pages and 1,000 colour pics of surviving examples of WWI uniforms. As you might expect, it doesn't come cheap: 99 Euros. In the blurb the Réséda isdescribed as "the unfortunate experiment". A Réséda helmet is prominent on the cover. A bit of a preview here: http://www.aukcjoner.net/gallery/000428819-.html#I3 This edition has English text.


 



-- Edited by James H at 03:03, 2008-08-14

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