Saudi Arabian HSRAC helmet

[SteveB]

British model HSRAC helmet used by the Saudi Arabians. It’s unusual in that it is factory painted in the sand colour implying that it was a contract order.

 

 

 

Liner is dated 1955. The decal on the front I have not managed to confirm but is likely connected to the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabian_National_Guard.

 

 

SANG were the force that ended the siege of the Grand Mosque in 1978

 

 

Steve

[Allan H.]

I find this helmet and helmet type to be rather interesting as I was an advisor to the Saudis during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-91. I had never seen one of these helmets while I was in theater, as the Saudi Army was wearing a US style (made in Korea) steel pot and liner with old US Mitchell covers with the sand side out. As we got closer to the start of the ground war, many senior Saudi officers suddenly started showing up wearing US made Kevlar helmets. 

 

I didn't have a whole lot of interaction with the Saudi National Guard, but you need to remember that their National Guard was much like the Iraqi Republican Guard and not a militia-based reserve organization. Many of the National Guard officers were members of the Royal family, or at least carried the title of "prince." (EMIR). I would imagine that by the Desert Shield era, these British pattern helmets had gone by the wayside.

 

Cool piece and great to see the period photos of them being worn.

 

Allan

[SteveB]

Hi Allan, thanks for the comments and background. I normally collect Arab-Israeli war items but when this came up for sale I couldn’t resist it.

 

I think the image from Desert Shield was a recent add to the Wikipedia page and I was surprised to see these still in use during that period. I was told that it’s possible SANG used these a differentiator to Saudi army troops using M1s.

 

This screen shot is from a documentary on the Great Mosque siege, that also showed that army surrounding the mosque in M1s but SANG assault troops in these helmets.

 

Steve

[Allan H.]

My recollection of the SANG is that they were getting the newest and best equipment available to the Saudis, but as I said previously, my actual interaction with them was pretty limited. I had a LOT of interaction with the Saudi Arabian Army and lived with them in the field and saw the huge amounts of brand-new field equipment coming through their supply system.

One thing that we might consider is that IF the British helmet is lighter, that may have been a reason for some to prefer it over the M1 clone that the others were using. I saw a lot of lightly used equipment and uniforms get tossed by the Saudis when new equipment came through. Typically, the higher ranks would get the new stuff and the lower ranks would scavenge with the privates getting what was left over. It was totally opposite of the US system where officers were taught that they didn't take care of themselves until their troops were taken care of.

Allan