What Do Turtle Shells and WWI and WWII Helmets Have In Common?

Did you know?

April 15, 2020 – We have more than one kind of helmet in the Military Gallery, just as there is more than one “design” of turtle shell, depending on whether they are terrestrial or aquatic. There are also two types of army helmets, based on whether they were designed for the first or second of the world wars.

In World War I, the helmets were wide like saucers to provide as much cover from above as possible, and only went across the top of the head. They were somewhat shallow, only covering the crown, and this was because in WWI, during trench warfare, artillery shells and explosions from overhead were the deadliest hazard faced by a soldier. Troops would be concealed by the trench except for their heads, so protecting very well from the top was extremely important.

In World War II, trenches and emplacements definitely did exist, but fighting in trenches wasn’t characteristic of this war. In a conflict that ranged amid deserts, forests, frozen fields, humid jungles, beaches, and even the desert, troops moved often many miles throughout their experience in the war instead of only moving a few hundred yards for months or even years. This meant an attack could come from almost any direction, and protecting only the top of the head was not good enough, so a WWII helmet is deeper, allowing covering much more of the head.

By looking at the shape of the America helmets, it is clear which of the world wars it was used during because the helmet will either be shallow or deep.

Not only are there two shapes of helmets for WWI and WWII, there are also two shapes among turtle shells. An aquatic turtle, spending lots of time in the water, will dive down or swim away in order to escape a predator, and its shell is thin to give it as much streamlining and speed in the water as possible. This means that an aquatic turtle shell is shallow and will not allow it to withdraw its entire body into the shell.

However, a terrestrial turtle does not need to have a thin shell to help it swim. A terrestrial turtle shell is much larger and deeper, with a significantly higher top. This allows a terrestrial turtle to withdraw its entire body into its shell, which hinges closed like a box. This shell will be bulkier, higher and more voluminous than the aquatic turtle shell.

In other words, the aquatic turtle shell greatly resembles the World War I helmet, and the terrestrial turtle shell instead resembles the World War II helmet. The former two are slim, flattened, and shallow, and the latter two are deep, bowl-shaped and more rounded.

Therefore, the WWI helmet resembles the aquatic turtle shell, and the WWII helmet resembles the terrestrial turtle shell. See our turtles in our Regional Gallery, then head over to our Military Gallery to see the two helmets.

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