HOME | DD

Description
This is an impression of a French tank crewman operating inside their tank. One may see this uniform on tankiste when in their vehicles during battle. The iconic leather 'Veste en Cuir' can be seen, similar to the coats worn by the Paris Fire Brigade. These coats were mainly issued to motorists and tank crews, however its fire-resistant qualities meant that flamethrower troops also wore them into battle. Many variants of this coat exist and the model shown here is a standard double-breasted version with a leather collar and left breast pocket. Other more common examples would feature a felt collar. The black coat was worn over the light blue tunic as its color masks the constant bombardment of vehicle oil and grease the tankiste would attract when operating inside their vehicle. Burn resistant gloves can be worn as well, mainly used to handle hot extracted shells from the tank's guns.

What is truly unique to the tankiste uniform of the Great War is the tank crew splatter mask, seen looped around the neck and worn. When bullets and other projectiles impacted the outside of the tank, the shock of these objects would sometimes cause the armor to spall on the inside. Flakes of armor would fly off inside the tank and depending on the impact strength and size of the spall, could cause irritation, wounds, or even death to the crew. By far the number one leading cause of injury in the tanks was head injuries. Because of this, the British would design a splatter mask that protected the wearer from medium to small sized armor spalling and burns. The masks consists of a steel faceplate perforated with horizontal slits with a nosepiece and chain mail covering the lower face. The faceplate is covered by brown leather on the outside and chamois leather on the inside. The mask is fastened to the face using four canvas ribbons.

The AS would obtain the masks through American officers who had trained with the British tankers and 1,840 masks would be first issued to crews of the Schneider CA and Saint-Chamond tanks in May 1918. The first three light tank companies’ part of 501e RAS named AS 301, AS 302, and AS 303 would also be entrusted to test the splatter mask in real battle conditions in late 1918. While the mask was effective in protecting the crew's face from spalling, many would opt to not wear it in order to maintain unobstructed visibility when inside the tank. This is an original example which I am incredibly happy to have as they are quite rare nowadays.

Another unique piece of kit for the tankiste was their Adrian helmets - or more specifically the modifications the tankiste would perform to them. As the Artillerie Spéciale was considered to be part of the regular artillery, the tankiste were issued standard Casque Adrian Modèle 1915 with the artillery badge of a flaming bomb over two crossed cannons. The front brim of the standard Adrian helmet did not allow the tankiste to get decent visibility through the 5 mm wide vision slits on the tank, so the tankiste would cut off the front brim to allow for closer viewing. Some modified helmets would have makeshift padding of either cloth or leather on the front of them. Others just folded over a few millimeters of the brim so the sharp edge of the cut was not exposed. The modifications would begin to be seen in late 1917 and was widespread among the crews by late 1918. It would spread naturally through the tankiste in the field and by the time that Generals had taken note of the unauthorized modifications, they would have already seen the combat improvements this modification would give the crews and allowed for it to be done. This helmet features the second model liner with six teeth and four corrugated aluminum spacers which reduce helmet wobble. The leather helmet liner was fixed onto the Adrian helmet through the use of two spikes on each side which puncture the scrap wool outer panel on the liner and are then folded over to secure the liner to the helmet.

Also pictured is a pair of civilian racing binoculars. It was up to the tank commander on whether they wanted to purchase a pair of binoculars for use in the tank. There were several options available at the time, both within military bazaars and within the civilian realm. Soldiers equipped with basic civilian binoculars was not an uncommon sight.

We also see the use of a flare pistol, specifically a Pistolet Géant pattern flare pistol designed by Manufrance before the war. As a tankiste within the Artillerie Spéciale, a flare pistol such as this would be used to signal supporting friendly artillery to lay down smoke shells to mask the tank's movement during attack. Each tank was, in theory, provided a flare pistol for this purpose. Smoke was important for masking the movement of the tanks during the attack because the tanks main threat apart from mines was accurate German artillery fire. There were several methods the AS would use to prevent German guns from being able to engage the tanks such as having an aircraft that would accompany the advance of the tanks. This aircraft was mainly tasked with directing counter-battery fire on enemy artillery. A further six fighter aircraft would be attached to protect this plane from responding enemy aircraft.

Description
This is an impression of a French tank crewman operating inside their tank. One may see this uniform on tankiste when in their vehicles during battle. The iconic leather 'Veste en Cuir' can be seen, similar to the coats worn by the Paris Fire Brigade. These coats were mainly issued to motorists and tank crews, however its fire-resistant qualities meant that flamethrower troops also wore them into battle. Many variants of this coat exist and the model shown here is a standard double-breasted version with a leather collar and left breast pocket. Other more common examples would feature a felt collar. The black coat was worn over the light blue tunic as its color masks the constant bombardment of vehicle oil and grease the tankiste would attract when operating inside their vehicle. Burn resistant gloves can be worn as well, mainly used to handle hot extracted shells from the tank's guns.

What is truly unique to the tankiste uniform of the Great War is the tank crew splatter mask, seen looped around the neck and worn. When bullets and other projectiles impacted the outside of the tank, the shock of these objects would sometimes cause the armor to spall on the inside. Flakes of armor would fly off inside the tank and depending on the impact strength and size of the spall, could cause irritation, wounds, or even death to the crew. By far the number one leading cause of injury in the tanks was head injuries. Because of this, the British would design a splatter mask that protected the wearer from medium to small sized armor spalling and burns. The masks consists of a steel faceplate perforated with horizontal slits with a nosepiece and chain mail covering the lower face. The faceplate is covered by brown leather on the outside and chamois leather on the inside. The mask is fastened to the face using four canvas ribbons.

The AS would obtain the masks through American officers who had trained with the British tankers and 1,840 masks would be first issued to crews of the Schneider CA and Saint-Chamond tanks in May 1918. The first three light tank companies’ part of 501e RAS named AS 301, AS 302, and AS 303 would also be entrusted to test the splatter mask in real battle conditions in late 1918. While the mask was effective in protecting the crew's face from spalling, many would opt to not wear it in order to maintain unobstructed visibility when inside the tank. This is an original example which I am incredibly happy to have as they are quite rare nowadays.

Another unique piece of kit for the tankiste was their Adrian helmets - or more specifically the modifications the tankiste would perform to them. As the Artillerie Spéciale was considered to be part of the regular artillery, the tankiste were issued standard Casque Adrian Modèle 1915 with the artillery badge of a flaming bomb over two crossed cannons. The front brim of the standard Adrian helmet did not allow the tankiste to get decent visibility through the 5 mm wide vision slits on the tank, so the tankiste would cut off the front brim to allow for closer viewing. Some modified helmets would have makeshift padding of either cloth or leather on the front of them. Others just folded over a few millimeters of the brim so the sharp edge of the cut was not exposed. The modifications would begin to be seen in late 1917 and was widespread among the crews by late 1918. It would spread naturally through the tankiste in the field and by the time that Generals had taken note of the unauthorized modifications, they would have already seen the combat improvements this modification would give the crews and allowed for it to be done. This helmet features the second model liner with six teeth and four corrugated aluminum spacers which reduce helmet wobble. The leather helmet liner was fixed onto the Adrian helmet through the use of two spikes on each side which puncture the scrap wool outer panel on the liner and are then folded over to secure the liner to the helmet.

Also pictured is a pair of civilian racing binoculars. It was up to the tank commander on whether they wanted to purchase a pair of binoculars for use in the tank. There were several options available at the time, both within military bazaars and within the civilian realm. Soldiers equipped with basic civilian binoculars was not an uncommon sight.

We also see the use of a flare pistol, specifically a Pistolet Géant pattern flare pistol designed by Manufrance before the war. As a tankiste within the Artillerie Spéciale, a flare pistol such as this would be used to signal supporting friendly artillery to lay down smoke shells to mask the tank's movement during attack. Each tank was, in theory, provided a flare pistol for this purpose. Smoke was important for masking the movement of the tanks during the attack because the tanks main threat apart from mines was accurate German artillery fire. There were several methods the AS would use to prevent German guns from being able to engage the tanks such as having an aircraft that would accompany the advance of the tanks. This aircraft was mainly tasked with directing counter-battery fire on enemy artillery. A further six fighter aircraft would be attached to protect this plane from responding enemy aircraft.