The British Brodie helmet was used in World War 1 as its shape was good for deflecting shrapnel and loose material from causing head injuries for the Brits in the trenches. It obviously had a good design and use in World War 1, but trench warfare was obviously much less widespread during World War 2. The Brits were one of the longest fighting nations in the war, fighting from 1939 - 1945, so time wasn't a factor to its lack in design change.
Why is this? I had always assumed it was to keep costs low, as the war had a great impact on Britain's economy. For example, the Brits decided to stop importing the American Thompson SMG and instead invested in the less reliable and less well performing STEN gun due to its lower cost and ease of production. With the Germans offering an obviously superior design with the Stahlhelm inspiration couldn't have been a factor, so it's always somewhat puzzled me.
They designed the replacement for the Brodie in 1941. Because they needed helmets NOW! they kept making the Brodie, and the replacement (the Mk III helmet) only went into production in 1943, and was issued in 1944. The Mk III (and the very similar Mk IV) was a deeper helmet, with significantly more side and back protection. It's often called the "turtle helmet", due to its shape:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Forces_in_the_Middle_East,_1945-1947_E31805.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Army_in_Normandy_1944_B6918.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Army_in_the_United_Kingdom_1939-45_H37975.jpg
Not many were produced, compared to the number of heads available to wear it - only about 500,000 were made before the Mk IV was produced instead. The Mk IV was the same shell, with a different liner and the chinstrap was attached lower down the sides of the helmet. A big advantage of the Mk IV was that the liner could easily be removed and the helmet shell used as a washbasin, bucket, etc. In 1956, a new liner, perhaps the most uncomfortable one the British used, was introduced. This Mk IV helmet with Mk V liner was used into the 1980s, with the replacement Mk 6, of ballistic nylon, coming into use in 1985 (jumping a mark number due to the Mk V liner). To quote the Imperial War Museum,
Those that wore the helmet have unhappy memories of it bouncing on the wearer's head when running and of the constant itching to the scalp that was caused by the sponge and elasticated stocking liner as it rubbed on the head.
The Mk III first went into combat in the D-Day landings, with the Canadians and a British division equipped with them:
Mk II helmets (the WW2 version of the Brodie) were still being made in 1944, and were not completely replaced by the Mk III and IV during the war.
Apart from the Brodie and the Mk III/IV, the British made another two distinct types of helmet. The British paratrooper helmet, officially the "Helmet Steel Airborne Troop", was similar to the German paratrooper helmet:
Four versions were used: the prototype version which saw combat use, and then the Mk I, II and III. The Mk III paratrooper helmet was used into the 1980s, being replaced by the "Helmet, Parachutists, Light Weight" (later called just "Helmet, Parachute"), early versions of which were fibreglass, and later marks ballistic nylon like the Mk 6. Some were issued for the Falklands War. This helmet is sometimes called the "M76", but that's a collector's name rather than an official name.
There was also the "Civilian Protective Helmet" AKA "Helmet, Steel, Civilian" or, informally, the Zuckerman helmet (after the lead designer). This was designed to protect the wearer from falling rubble, and were intended for use by the Air Raid Precautions (ARP)/Civil Defence Service (CD):
The early versions were made from mild steel, and some later helmets were made from the same high-manganese alloy, Hadfield steel, used for the British combat helmets. Mild steel versions of the Brodie were also made for the ARP/CD, firefighters, police, and the Home Guard. They were also issued Mk II combat helmets that failed quality checks. They didn't just get mild steel helmets and rejects - a lot of the early wartime production of Mk II combat helmets went to the ARP/CD, firefighters and police, who were exposed to danger trying to cope with and reduce damage from German bombing, while it didn't look like the infantry would be able to fight the Germans in the near future.
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!
