The crews of early armoured fighting vehicles faced two principal threats: machine-gun and artillery fire, both of which could penetrate the hull; and the vehicles' violent lurching and jarring as they traversed trenches or shell-cratered terrain. Leather helmets offered some protection against impact injuries. Armoured shields or chain-mail masks guarded faces from small-arms fire coming through the tank's vision ports, and from "splash", metal fragments sent flying through the crew compartment by the force of shells or other projectiles hitting the steel hull.
Helmet Face Guard (goggles)
CWM 19880212-093
Canada and the First World War
