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Comment by Hayvok | Hacker News Reader

That shot of the men lining the trench... with cloth hats. No helmets.

Imagine the constant artillery bombardment above you - shrapnel and rock everywhere - and you’re wearing not much more than a baseball hat.

Truly an incredible time in history - these old armies colliding with a new type of war.

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I noticed that too, no doubt posed, as the story said, due to the slow exposure required. Probably in a rear training area or perhaps 2nd or 3rd line trench. The trench with the men aiming rifles didn't look like it had ever been shelled so unlikely they were facing the French or British.

> didn't look like it had ever been shelled

Ah, that's the "flaw" I couldn't quite point my finger at. Thanks.

Yeah it’s crazy to see how important horses were while by the end of the war dog fights by airplanes had become common. Between the tanks, machine guns, gas, and planes it was the first major mechanized war.

Hemingway has some good writing about this and the horror of it all. Especially as previous tactics were being used with mechanized armies - just complete slaughter.

Do helmets significantly reduce casualities or are they more like a courage device that makes the wearer feel less vulnerable?

WW1 helmets are as effective as their modern day counterparts

https://scitechdaily.com/shocking-results-when-wwi-helmets-w...

That's only against overhead shockwaves and states in the article that serious advancements have been made to protect from other types of damage.

Construction workers don't just wear them for reassurance either.

They protect the most vulnerable part of your body. You might not immediately go tell tales of it if you get hit in your helmet by anything but a small caliber or shrapnel (a large caliber will still inflict significant head trauma), but your chances of survival are way up from pretty much zero.

Also there might be all kinds of stuff flying around on a battlefield, and even if it isn't necessarily lethal, it's nice to not get hit in the head by a rock or whatever.

They probably aren't that effective at stopping bullets coming straight on, but they will protect against ricochets, shrapnel, falling debris, and so on.

There is a good reason the US changed the bottom profile on its combat helmets, despite any possible associations with the Stahlhelm M35.

In the first world war they apparently shielded the wearer effectively from debris caused by artillery shells that would have otherwise killed them. Here's an interesting video about the statistics behind it (and how they were misinterpreted at first): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQE0uZUMys

They can deflect bullets depending on the angle at which they come. They'll definitely stop some shrapnel and rocks falling after explosions.

And remember that injured soldiers are as much if not more of a problem than dead soldiers because now you need someone to take care of them.

Soviet tank crew wore padded helmets inside their tanks to protect their heads from impacts with the sides and equipment, e.g. while crossing rough terrain or from ill-considered sudden movement

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