Strange Tin

[Stuart Bates]

Does anyone know what type of headdress the large storage/transit tin would have been designed for. The photos show it against a normal Home/Foreign Service Helmet tin. It belongs to a friend and contained an Australian badged FSH of normal size so there was plenty of room!

Stuart

[Chris Boonzaier]

Extra room for his Gin bottles and 'baccy?

[Stuart Bates]

I have been told by a curator at the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum that the tin was designed to hold two helmets. His explanation follows -

The tin should probably have some internal fittings, viz. - a hinged shelf about half way down the body of the tin with a small rest opposite for the shelf to rest on; a lip about two inches wide, six inches long and three inches down from the top of the tin, with a hinged flap opposite. At the bottom of the tin might rest helmet fittings, other kit, etc. On the middle hinged shelf would rest a helmet, and on the lip and flap above, another helmet. Thus the top of the bottom helmet is inside the helmet above it, and the top of the uppermost helmet fits snugly inside the lid. We have several of this description but only one with what appear to be contemporary helmets, in this instance, Wolseley pattern.

I don't remember any such internal fittings and I don't remember noting whether they had been removed but the above explanation seems entirely plausible.

Stuart

[Stuart Bates]

Another dealer over here in Oz has a tin of the same dimensions and without any internal fittings. His explanation is -

"As for the tin in the photo, it is actually for the pith helmets of the 1920's (as they are a bigger brim). The helmets were very large for some reason."

This might explain the width but certainly not the height. Maybe two helmets were stored in the tin with sufficiently good packing to avoid damage. In fact, there is a photo of a helmet in the 1900 Dress regulations which is simply called "The Pith Hat" and has a 3 1/2" brim all around. It is described under the heading of "Uniform for Service Abroad" which also defines the normal Foreign Service Helmet as the main headdress, so it's not clear when the Pith Hat would be worn, although it looks distinctly unmilitary.

I have the Army & Navy catalogue of 1907 and it lists a "Double Helmet tin" for 10/6.

Stuart

[peter monahan]

I have the Army & Navy catalogue of 1907 and it lists a "Double Helmet tin" for 10/6.

Stuart

Vot a clever idea! I was going to guess it might be for the lovely plumed version of the pith helmet one sees worn by Viceroy's and other nobs, but of course the plume comes off, dudn't it, so in fact there'd be no need for a taller tin. What will they think of next!

[Stuart Bates]

Yes, one of my early thoughts was for a diplomatic style helmet but, as you say, the plumes were removed for transit and usually had their own tin. I dismissed this idea when I tried one of my Wolseley helmets in the tin and it got as lost as the normal FSH.

Stuart

[Stuart Bates]

I got this response from the National Army Museum, London.

We cannot be certain what type of helmet was stored in this tin, but it would probably have been the full-dress head-dress of the regiment that the General was in. It seems most likely that it was a cavalry helmet of some type, but without knowing the owner's unit we cannot be sure.

I replied -

thanks for the information but I located the owner as Major General Walter Adams Coxen of the A.I.F. of WWI. He was an artilleryman not cavalry. Check out this bio http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080146b.htm.I feel that the tin was designed to hold 2 helmets and such a tin was listed in the Army & Navy Catalogue of 1907 of which I have a copy. Stuart

Edited December 6, 2006 by Stuart Bates