The Brodie helmet, called Helmet, steel, Mark I helmet in
Britain and the M1917 Helmet in the U.S., was a steel combat
helmet designed and patented in 1915 by the Briton John Leopold
Brodie. Colloquially, it was also called the shrapnel helmet,
Tommy helmet, Tin Hat, and in the United States the doughboy
helmet. It was also known as the dishpan hat, tin pan hat,
washbasin, battle bowler (when worn by officers) and Kelly
helmet. The US version, the M1917, was copied from the British
Mk 1 steel helmet of 1916. The Germans called it the
Salatschüssel (salad bowl). During the first year of World War
I, none of the combatants offered steel helmets to their troops.
The soldiers of most nations went into battle wearing simple
cloth caps that offered no protection from modern weapons.
German troops wore the traditional leather Pickelhaube, also of
little protective value. The huge number of lethal head wounds
that modern weapons were inflicting upon the French Army led
them to introduce the first of the modern steel