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CAMOUFLAGED NOISE LATEST FROM FRONT: Burlap Coverings Prevent Tin Derbies from Playing Tunes on Wire, in Stars and Stripes (France), April 5, 1918—
The camouflaged tin hat is the latest in spring styles in the Army. It appeared first among a number of men a few weeks ago, and is now becoming a real sensation.
The camouflage hat is a homemade affair, in so far as the camouflage goes. You take a piece of burlap, fit it neatly to the helmet, and then bind it in place on the inside rim with threaded cord. The main idea of the camouflage is to keep your hat from being noisy in the trenches. Wire and strips of camouflage are stretched across the trenches at intervals, and you have to duck under them. If you raise up too soon and your helmet scratches against the wire, it fairly rings. Hence the burlap-noise-camouflage idea.
Every day that goes by brings more affection for the tin hat from the American fighting man. There are few who have been in the trenches, or about artillery emplacements who have not had shell pieces pounced off their helmets. Without the tin hat these shell pieces would have meant death or at least a serious wound.…
