M26 Adrian Helmet - Casque Adrian

Here is a closer picture of the badge and the back of the badge inside helmet.

 

You got yourself an original Sebian expedition shell from the 1916 campaign when the French sent troops to Serbia and equipped the Serbs with Adrians. It's a nice and poular insignia and from what Isee it had an original mustard colour cammo.

 

That is what I thought so I am very happy with the find. It does all look very original to me although I would say the colour was more Khaki than mustard, It is quite hard to tell though. I think the guy I bought it from had cleaned it up with oil which may have darkened the colours slightly.

Inside it has some markings " 56 A3" and what looks like a star or sunshine logo. Can you tell which manufacturer made it ?

 

I will have to check out for the logo , but 56 is the size

 

Here's 4 of my French made helmets to throw into this mix the third I believe is a North African plate

 

Nice helmets , I still needa colonial one myself.

From left to right : M-15 infantry (WWI) , M-31 Infantry (WWII) , M-31 Colonial Infantry (WWII) and M-51 Infantry (Agerian War)

 

Great looking helmets guys! ..its great to see other members joining the conversation

 

At last, it took me over five years to find my Zouave M-26 model with original insignia.

The seller also had an M-15 model and since I am a lucky guy I found a M-26 infantry model the same day at another market.

All helmets are in top condition with liners and chinstraps. The Zouave is dated 1939 and the maker is Industielle de Marseille. The infantry one was made by Jappy.











The infantry was repainted U.S. olive in 1945 but the kaki layer is still intact under it, so I left it as such .

 

An interesting find this week. This is a genuine M-31 Adrian which was used by the fire brigade of a small village in central France. The Kaki was repainted silver (see inside ) and they apparently used the old brass insignia of an old M-1885 helmet and used it on this helmet. Note the name of the village and the homefront symbol + crown which was used by the fireman. The light brown chin strap is also a fireman one.

 

This one I bought for a friend : It's a Chasseur model.

 

This is a rare local made colonial insignia for a Police Adrian in French colonial Morocco (Casablanca Opertaion Torch etc...). I had never even seen this insignia before and paid quite a fortune for the helmet. It's a brass Sherifian star cast on navy blue iron (it almost looks black ).
The crest is chromed metal (instead of aluminium) and so are the rims (like on U.S. M1 helmets) . Not many will have htis one and I haven't found any other displayed on the net either. (The closest I got is a Spahi helmet, but this is definitely Police)

 

Bumper the bumper bump , bump ...... you guys are missing my favorite "toy"

 

Nice example to your collection Skipper, by the sounds of it rare too!

You must have a nice batch of Adrians by this stage.

 

Thanks for the kinds words and for reviving this older this fascinating thread. I felt a bit lonely there without you and had abandonned it last year. Yes, Ihave several new Adrians. Not so many because as you can see i have already many ones.