Gott im fuppin Himmel!
Louis Le Fronde writes:
“This is the IRISH army in the 1930s, wearing German-style helmets. Subsequent British anti-Irish propaganda focusing on the helmets was a bit unfair as they were in fact supplied by the firm of Vickers & Co in London who had been given custody of a German helmet press captured by the British.
“The Germans still retained a number of other helmet presses, but were banned from manufacturing helmets under the terms of the Versailles Treaty. When the Irish army changed its headgear, the Vickers’ helmets were buried in landfill sites. As far as I know, Irish army helmets are now manufactured in Israel.”
FIGHT!
Meanwhile…
The badge on those helmets.
‘FF’ anyone?
Pics: WarRelics (top) and Auctivia (above)
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The FF stands for Fianna Fáil, a name the army were using a few years before Dev nicked it.
Fianna Fáil, Soldiers of Destiny….but NOT linked to the political party.
Thanks Mr Moynes and Hoop, couldn’t read the badge myself.
Nice to see a colour photo of Irish soldiers wearing that uniform; it seems it’s rare to find one. The ‘badge on those helmets’ is still used by the Irish Defence Forces today…
ah, the ‘one-size-fits-all’ helmet. lends itself to some rakish and jaunty angles among that lot. in fact the poor lad three rows back on the right looks like he could stagger off the road at any second..
Nothing wrong with them – better than the Brodie.
On the badge design:
http://www.military.ie/info-centre/defence-forces-history/defence-forces-cap-badge/
“Fighting Force”. It’s the standard army insignia.
I thought it was “Fionnuala Fagan” after the woman who washed the uniforms?
The German helmets were more effective, protecting the back of the neck. Shouldn’t have caved in to the image-insinuators.
As for the FF, wiki is your friend:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Defence_Forces_cap_badge
Designed by Eoin MacNeill with his usual frilly sense of National Dress.
Irish army boycott march this saturday?
….I was shattered to learn that the Israelis had been awarded that contract.
Thanks for reminding me of something I knew of in the 70s.
Forget the helmets, look at those SS style collars!
Fighting Forces. Have lots of memorabilia from my Dad.
it also says Oglaigh na hEireann which the RA also nicked
How much does the Irish army cost us each year?
In monies.
The helmets that replaced them were akin to the British helmet of WW2 and uncomfortable as hell. Woe betide you if you were last man out on FCA manoeuvres and had to pick up and bring back the discarded helmets. Separately, I’m pretty sure Israel is a major supplier of ammo to the PDF (hides behind sofa).