Original French WWII FFI-Captured & Painted Paris Police M1915 Adrian Helmet with Liner & Name Tape
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is an authentic World War I M-1915 French Army Adrian helmet which was re-issued during the World War II period to a member of the Paris Police, as denoted by the badge of the Paris Police to the front. It incorporates the coat of arms of Paris into a shield with a castle over it. The helmet was then captured by a member of the FFI or French Forces of the Interior (Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur).
The helmet is painted on both the left and right side with FFI and on the front and rear visor with the Cross of St. Lorraine inside of a V. The underside of the rear visor has a piece of tape with a name scribbled on, F. Guilbert(?).
The helmet retains the second pattern liner but is missing one tongue and there is heavy tearing and loss of stitching across the liner. The tie string is still retained. There is no chinstrap.
A very interesting Adrian helmet worn by a member of the FFI! Ready for further research and display.
The FFI were the French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation to one of a nation being liberated by the Allied armies. As regions of France were liberated, the FFI were more formally organized into light infantry units and served as a valuable manpower addition to regular Free French forces. In this role, the FFI units manned less active areas of the front lines, allowing regular French army units to practice economy of force measures and mass their troops in decisive areas of the front. Finally, from October 1944 and with the greater part of France liberated, the FFI units were amalgamated into the French regular forces continuing the fight on the Western Front, thus ending the era of the French irregulars in World War II.
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