Guest Trenchwire Posted 18 April , 2007 Share Posted 18 April , 2007 Anyone have a list of the manufacturers initials that are on the Brodie steel helmets,i have filled in the ones i know HV HS = W Hutton & Sons (Sheffield) FS FKS D/A =Dixon & Sons BS or there might be more i dont know about . Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 18 April , 2007 Share Posted 18 April , 2007 Some notes I took of a different thread a while back, will try to find original BS is W. Beardmore & Co Ltd of Glasgow V is Vickers of Sheffield HS is Hadfield of Sheffield Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trenchwire Posted 18 April , 2007 Share Posted 18 April , 2007 Some notes I took of a different thread a while back, will try to find original BS is W. Beardmore & Co Ltd of Glasgow V is Vickers of Sheffield HS is Hadfield of Sheffield Mick cheers Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Anyone have a list of the manufacturers initials that are on the Brodie steel helmets,i have filled in the ones i know HV HS = W Hutton & Sons (Sheffield) FS FKS D/A =Dixon & Sons or there might be more i dont know about . Alan Alan - On many British helmets with different manufacturer and steel supplier, the first letter indicates the manufacturer while the second indicates the steel supplier. On many other helmets, the manufacturer and steel supplier were the same firm. Consequently, HV = W. Hutton & Sons (manufacturer) and Vickers (steel supplier) HS = Mick is correct, Hadfields (manufacturer and steel supplier) FS = Thomas Firth & Sons (manufacturer and steel supplier) FKS = probably another designation of Firth & Sons (manufacturer and steel supplier) D/A = James Dixon & Sons (manufacturer) and Edgar Allen & Company (steel supplier) I hope that this information helps. Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trenchwire Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Thank you Torrey thats fantastic,where did you get that info from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Thank you Torrey thats fantastic,where did you get that info from Hello, Alan - If I remember correctly, it came from an issue of the French magazine "Militaria" several years ago. I'll attempt to find it. For your information, almost all American-made helmets had codes that began with "Z" followed by another letter (probably indicating steel supplier) and a number indicating steel batch number [e.g., "ZA 45," "ZD 121," etc.]. However, I read that due to an initial shortage of helmets for U.S. troops, over a million helmets issued to U.S. troops were purchased from Britain. Consequently, we find many British-made helmets here in the U.S. Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trenchwire Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Torrey i cant thank you enough for your kind help, im trying obtain all the different manufactured helmets for my collection so i don't know how many i will end up with? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Where any of these delivered to the USA? thanks Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trenchwire Posted 19 April , 2007 Share Posted 19 April , 2007 Where any of these delivered to the USA? thanks Chris chris i have purchased these from the states hs hv and bs but already had f/s fks and d/a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 20 April , 2007 Share Posted 20 April , 2007 Torrey i cant thank you enough for your kind help, im trying obtain all the different manufactured helmets for my collection so i don't know how many i will end up with? Hello, Alan - No problem - that's one of the purposes of this forum, which I enjoy immensely. I checked my references last night. The information came from an article about British WWI helmets in the French magazine "Armes Militaria" #54 (February 1990). [My copy is now unavailable, but perhaps you can acquire a copy somewhere. There also was an English-language version of this issue printed years ago for sale in the U.S.] I very much enjoyed this very professional and well-researched magazine when I subscribed to it, and I wish that we had more available of similar quality. Anyway, I had copied the following information from that article: Manufacturers: "D" [James Dixon & Sons (Sheffield)] "H" [W. Hutton & Sons (Sheffield)] "HH" [Harrison Bros. & Howson Ltd. (Sheffield)] "R" [John Round & Sons (Sheffield)] "V" [W & E Viener (Sheffield)] Steel Suppliers: "FS" [Thomas Firth & Sons Ltd. (Sheffield)] "F" [ditto] "FKS" [probably the same] "HS" [Hadfields Ltd. (Sheffield)] "BS" [W. Beardmore & Co. Ltd. (Glasgow)] "MS" [Miris Steel Co. (London)] "A" [Edgar Allen & Co. (Sheffield)] "O" [samuel Osborn & Co. Ltd. (Sheffield)] "V" [Vickers Ltd. (Sheffield)] "B" [burys & Co. (?) (Sheffield) (?)] "M&S" [Maxfield & Sons (?) (Sheffield)(?)] "MLS" [(???)] Since this information dates from 1990, perhaps subsequent research has changed or expanded this information. If so, I would be very interested in learning of corrections and of other manufacturers and steel suppliers. Typical markings were the designation of manufacturer, followed by designation of steel supplier, followed by batch number of steel used. For example, in my collection I have "HV 244" [W. Hutton & Sons (manufacturer), Vickers Ltd. (steel supplier), and steel batch #244]; "HH/O 254" [Harrision Bros. & Howson, Ltd. (manufacturer), Samuel Osborn & Co., Ltd. (steel supplier), and steel batch #254], and another marked "FKS 76" [probably Thomas Firth & Sons, Ltd. (both manufacturer and steel supplier) and steel batch #76]. As I wrote earlier, the "Z" designation was used on American-manufacturered helmets. These American-made helmets were manufactured exclusively for U.S. forces. I have no idea who the manufacturers were; perhaps someone can inform me. Good luck with your efforts to collect these variations! Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey McLean Posted 20 April , 2007 Share Posted 20 April , 2007 Where any of these delivered to the USA? thanks Chris Hello, Chris - I assume that British-manufactured helmets sold to the U.S. Government were delivered directly to U.S. Quartermaster Stores in the UK and France and issued to American troops in Europe. It would not have made sense to ship them to the U.S., only to be sent back to Europe with U.S. troops. I might be wrong, of course.... Anyway, most of the British-manufactured helmets in the U.S. were ones issued to U.S. troops and kept as souvenirs by returning servicemen. I even have a rimless Brodie acquired here in the U.S., but of course it might have made its way here via Canada. Regards, Torrey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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