So we've all seen World War II movies, right? There are modern-day classics like "Saving Private Ryan," prestige films like "Dunkirk," somewhat-true-to-life action-dramas like "Fury," and many more. But even if you haven't seen these, you might have noticed a curious feature of World War II helmets in photographs or elsewhere: A little net cover. It's not going to stop any explosions or bullets, and it might even get caught in something, so why wear it? Well, soldiers could be in a lot more danger without nets. That's because they were a solution for cheap and versatile camouflage in the field.
It makes sense if you think about it. Helmets are necessary to protect soldiers' heads, but they also stick out. Despite the dull, olive green of World War II helmets, they were also a solid, semi-shiny dome with a smooth texture that stuck out in any natural environment. Basically, they presented an easy target unless there was some way to break up the helmet's appearance. World War II combat was already deadly enough without protective gear making things deadlier.
But when we talk about netted helmets, we really mean the United States' M1 helmet, which was developed in response to complaints about how earlier designs couldn't stop shrapnel. The M1 went into circulation in June 1941, but their nets didn't get standardized until 1944 with what's been dubbed the "M-1944" along with the slogan, "Net, Helmet, with Band." In between, some soldiers painted camo patterns on their helmets, Marines used herringbone twill weaves, and more.
At this point, World War II's "steel pot" M1 helmets represent such a commonplace design that they're what folks might imagine when thinking of the word "helmet" (of the non-medieval variety). Anyone can look at the wide-brimmed, shallow bowl-looking helmets of World War I and see the flaws, particularly when it comes to protecting the base of the skull. The M1s represented a technological and design breakthrough, no matter how labor intensive they were to make. Right down to "spanking" the contours of the pot's edge into shape, as Military Trader/Vehicles explains, and using a steel coil to form the rims. The design lasted all the way from 1942 to the mid-1980s when they got phased out and replaced with helmets like the PASGT, which is made from composite, non-steel materials like Kevlar (it's still used today).
But the M1s weren't perfect — nothing is. They could stop fragments of projectiles, unlike World War 1 helmets, but were heavy (3.5 pounds), annoying, obscured sight, reduced hearing, and limited mobility. Soldiers objected to wearing them at first, no matter that an unprotected head in a battlefield is a profoundly terrible idea. Then there was the whole problem we described earlier: The M1s stood out against natural backgrounds. Wrapping the helmet in netting was a clever and simple way to make a soldier's head harder to spot. They did the job so well that the U.S. standardized their use by 1944.
When the U.S. military standardized net use in 1944, it also standardized the design, materials, color, and so forth. As we noted, camouflage paint was the original, official option for obscuring helmets from enemy sight. But come 1944, troops across all fronts — from northern Europe to northern Africa — had already cobbled together their own materials to make various types of nets. Realizing that nets were a better overall choice, the United States Army Quartermaster Corps (QMC), responsible for equipping soldiers, cancelled its contracts with paint companies in March 1944. By September that year, standard-issue nets hit the frontlines, dubbed "M-1944 nets" in the years since then.
Unlike some of the super thin, widely-spaced nets that show up in some films or reenactments, M-1944 nets had small, ¼-inch holes in the mesh. They look more like loose crochet than fishing nets. They were also made from cotton and dyed a very specific Olive Drab No. 7, a shade lighter than the olive of the helmets.
Very interestingly, J. Murray Inc. 1944 shows us that the helmets came with little instruction tags that explained the net's purpose to soldiers and outlined how to equip it. Reading, "Net, Helmet, with Band" — part-slogan and part-description — the tags say that the nets "break up the helmet silhouette," "secure camouflage foliage to helmet" (by putting sticks and leaves through the net's band), and "prevent glare." There's also instructions about how to secure the net by wrapping it around the helmet and folding it up into the interior. You can also let the net hang loose to cover the face.
Even though the "Net, Helmet, with Band" improved on soldiers' improvised nets, they weren't the only type of mesh used during World War II's final years. Considering that soldiers had been creating their own makeshift designs for longer than the M-1944 was actually in use (the nets were rolled out in 1944 and the war ended in 1945), alternative net designs remained in use. The Battle of the Bulge, for example, started in December 1944 amidst a snowy winter, and soldiers made their own white camouflage from strips of white cloth to match the snow — shirts, parachutes, whatever worked. The same thing happened during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
The 90th Infantry Division Preservation Group also describes loads of additional alternative net designs. This includes mesh used at specific conflicts like the Battle of Normandy or used by the English in general. There's also wider-spaced nets, designs with knots hand-tied at each at every cord intersection, diamond/askew hole shapes, hexagonal hole shapes, irregularly rowed cords, thicker "shrimp net" designs, and more.
Some militaries, like the Danish and Dutch forces, more or less copy-pasted the American M1 with their net designs. The Danish actually bought surplus M1 helmets in 1948 following the end of World War II and rebranded them the M48. The Dutch, meanwhile, changed the netting color to be a bit lighter. But no matter how we cut it, nets were a critical part of World War II helmets and beyond.