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Description
Colorized full body portrait of a veteran tankiste part of the 506e Régiment d'Artillerie Spéciale

This portrait of a veteran tank crewman features several noteworthy pieces of kit. The helmet is a modified artillery version of the Adrian Helmet Modèle 1915, issued to the tank units. It is modified by having a trimmed or completely removed front brim that allows the wearer to get closer visibility through the tank’s vision slits while inside the tank. This was because the long 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. Right below the collar tabs that denote the tankiste as part of the 506e RAS is a tank crew splatter mask. 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 both large and miniscule would fly off inside the tank and depending on the size of the shock, could cause irritation, wounds, or even death to the crew. Because of this, the British would design a splatter mask that protected the wearer from medium to small sized armor spalling. The French military would take note and order thousands of these masks to be issued to the tank crews. The rest of the kit is fairly standard, with a rank tab across his chest and a Modèle 1903 modifié 1914 belt holding a Ruby pistol holster and a Modèle 1916 knife in its metallic sheath. He wears the standard Modèle 1915 trousers with red artillery piping and puttees, and Modèle 1912 boots.

Description
Colorized full body portrait of a veteran tankiste part of the 506e Régiment d'Artillerie Spéciale

This portrait of a veteran tank crewman features several noteworthy pieces of kit. The helmet is a modified artillery version of the Adrian Helmet Modèle 1915, issued to the tank units. It is modified by having a trimmed or completely removed front brim that allows the wearer to get closer visibility through the tank’s vision slits while inside the tank. This was because the long 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. Right below the collar tabs that denote the tankiste as part of the 506e RAS is a tank crew splatter mask. 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 both large and miniscule would fly off inside the tank and depending on the size of the shock, could cause irritation, wounds, or even death to the crew. Because of this, the British would design a splatter mask that protected the wearer from medium to small sized armor spalling. The French military would take note and order thousands of these masks to be issued to the tank crews. The rest of the kit is fairly standard, with a rank tab across his chest and a Modèle 1903 modifié 1914 belt holding a Ruby pistol holster and a Modèle 1916 knife in its metallic sheath. He wears the standard Modèle 1915 trousers with red artillery piping and puttees, and Modèle 1912 boots.