Description
Finland. Helmet model 1917. Made in Finland for the Russian Army. 5000 helmets in Finnish use, 1917 – about 1950’s Olive green, weight 1 kg, shell 1 mm pressed steel. Russian army ordered 600.000 helmets of this model from two factories in Helsinki, Finland. They were made by Sohlberg ja Holmberg. As the Russian Revolution and Finnish Civil War broke up, some 500 pieces were still in Helsinki. The Helsinki Red Guards confiscated helmets for their own use. After the Civil War the Helsinki White Guards used them, after that they were worn among others by Helsinki Infantry Regiment and Finnish White Guards. Some were possibly made even after Finnish independence and Civil war. The Finnish Army abandoned them 1920 and sold them over the next two decades to civil defence authorities and fire brigades. From the Sven Hassel collection.
