Why nets on army helmets

The men in the back ground are just walking around with no combat gear other than a rifle. Good point. It could very well be a rehearsal in Britain. Still, the helmet net is there, rehearsal or not. As stated nets were widely used by infantry and you can see them in almost every D-Day pic. Just check this site and you will find lots. Nice site you have here btw. Can you say KaBoom?! The image was taken at the extreme eastern end of Omaha beach in the 1st Division sector.

I imagine the wounded shown were dragged to this position away from the effects of German fire from the bluffs further west. The one wounded was my grandfather Anthony Stellato…he made it!!

The net material stretches. Grasp each side of the net, one side in each hand, and pull to stretch. A Herculean effort is not necessary. Don't try to tear it in half like your 'ripping the phonebook in half' party trick. Lay net flat and place helmet, top down, onto the net. Bring up one corner to bale and slide chinstrap through one of the holes in the bottom of the net.

Any of the many holes will work, there is not one specific one. Repeat for the other side. Begin drawing string and tightening up the tension on the net. At this point, you can start to slide the net around the edge of the helmet.

Just keep working the tension until the net is completely around the helmet. Loosely tie off the string. Don't tie a permanent knot, just enough to hold the net on until you put in the helmet liner. The main types of helmet nets, include:. The above list is by no means exhaustive. It is merely intended to show the great variance in styles of netting used by different units, even within the same theater of operations.

An in depth analysis of each style net, its procurement, and use, will hopefully be the source of greater analysis and future scholarship.

There are distinct features in construction and shape to each of these types of nets making them identifyable upon close examination of photos.

Army-developed standard helmet net. These nets seem to first appear in use by troops in the ETO during the late Fall of and become progressively more common until the end of the war in Europe. The Camouflage Factories of the U. Section No. Thus, American planners were forced to look to alternative sources of netting to to make up for this deficit. These nets were initially intended as larger nets for use in concealment of equipment.

Why were Shrimp Nets cut up and used as helmet nets? To quote Report No. They become too shiny under the mud and dust of field conditions, and when seen from the air a shrimp net was the most conspicuous object in the region.

Simply put, they were ineffective as large area covering nets. The use of shrimp nets as camouflage for vehicles and large emplacements was soon ordered to be curtailed in the ETO.