The Helmet Steel Airborne Troops (HSAT) is a
paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...
helmet
A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protect ...
of
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
origin worn by paratroopers and members of
airlanding units. It was introduced in
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and was also used by other Commonwealth armies. It continued to be used in the post-war era until the early 1980s. It was in the process of being replaced, with parachute battalions being issued as priority, when the
Falklands War occurred. As with the similarly shaped
RAC helmet
The Royal Armoured Corps helmet is a combat helmet of British origin worn by Armoured Troops. As with the similarly shaped HSAT, it was initially manufactured by Briggs Motor Bodies at Dagenham. It was introduced in WW2 and was issued to commonw ...
and despatch rider motorcycle helmet, it was initially manufactured by Briggs Motor Bodies at Dagenham.
Variants
All four variants were used during
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
with the last variant being revised in the mid 1950s.
P Type Helmet
The first prototype variant was used during the
Bruneval Raid
Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid on a German coastal radar installation at Bruneval in northern France, during the Second World War, on the night .
Several of these installations were id ...
, these came with a rubber padding found on the rear. The helmets were short lived and replaced by the HSAT.
The first steel helmet was produced at the BMB factory in 1941. These early "P Type" helmets only numbered between 500 and 1,000 units. The P Type featured a non-magnetic
manganese steel shell with a rubberized rim and a lining with interior padding that was similar to the German M36/40 design.
Some soldiers issued with these helmets continued to use them throughout the war. An example worn during the
Battle of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity f ...
can be found on display in
Hartenstein Museum, the Netherlands.
HSAT
The next step in the evolution of the British helmet came in 1942. This helmet featured a similar shell design, but with a thick vulcanized fiber band rim that clearly distinguishes it from the German model, along with a four-point chinstrap system and a band of sorbo rubber for padding. These early helmets used leather chinstraps and are considered quite rare.
HSAT Mk I
Third pattern, came with the same leather chinstraps and a steel rim instead of the fibre rim (issue October 1942).
HSAT Mk II
Fourth pattern, came with the three-point webbing chinstrap. This variant was also used after the Second World War, leaving service around the time of the
Falklands War. Throughout the 1980s, some of the earlier issue chinstraps were later reused on the more current glass reinforced plastic "Helmet, Parachutist, Lightweight" / "Helmet Parachute".
The fittings of the wartime issue varied from the 1950s postwar issue. The wartime chinstrap had brass ends and rivets: these were manufactured in blackened steel in the 1950s (in line with production of the 1937 Pattern web equipment at that time). The temporal bales of the postwar helmet were of a slightly different design.
Users
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Polish Armed Forces in the West
The Polish Armed Forces in the West () refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. Polish forces were also raised within Soviet territories; th ...
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References
Websites
World War II British Airbornearnhemjim.blogspot.com
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{{helmets
Combat helmets of the United Kingdom
World War II military equipment of the United Kingdom
British Army equipment
Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944