what if trench raids with melee weapons were not used in the early 20th century, would that butterfly away helmets in the first world war? how would that change technologies? what would the new caps look like?
Helmets were there to stop you from being disenbrained by shrapnel. They'd stay.
i read it was because of trench raids, many people brought shovels and hammers and bashed open enemy skull. i've read accounts where helmets decapitated soldiers, and other soldiers being hit by flying helmets.
And shrapnal is more likely to hit your face or your lungs and heart than it is to hit the top of your head.
Yeah, but full body-armour is expensive and heavy. Also, chest hits are survivable (well, more often than not, at any rate) whereas a hit to the head will kill you every time. Hence, helmets are a decent compromise.
i read it was because of trench raids, many people brought shovels and hammers and bashed open enemy skull. i've read accounts where helmets decapitated soldiers, and other soldiers being hit by flying helmets.
And shrapnal is more likely to hit your face or your lungs and heart than it is to hit the top of your head.
i read it was because of trench raids, many people brought shovels and hammers and bashed open enemy skull. i've read accounts where helmets decapitated soldiers, and other soldiers being hit by flying helmets.
And shrapnal is more likely to hit your face or your lungs and heart than it is to hit the top of your head.
So is there any other way to butterfly out helmets?
Airbursts wouldn't have been much of an issue in WW1 (no proxy fuses, so setting a weapon to airburst would require adjusting the fuse manually... not much good when you're firing off a barrage at >3 rpm per gun).Actually the fragments from an airburst are most likely to hit you from above.
How long did they go without the helmet? And never completely either...