In this video we provide a brief overview of helmet designs starting with WW1, going into WW2, culminating into what's in use today with a fine example of a ballistic grade Fast helmet from Hard Head Veterans.
If you're in need of a helmet, you can't go wrong with this helmet from HHV. It's competitively priced, light weight, modular and comfortable. What else can you ask for in a modern helmet?
Other than air burst shrapnel, artillery impacts throw up a lot of mud and debris that all has to come back down again. In WW1 they found that soldiers were getting killed and injured just by having clods of mud, rocks etc. rain down on them. The British Brodie design was shaped that way to provide cover to the the head and part of the shoulders from above. As I understand it, when it was introduced the number of reported injuries actually went up, but that was a statistical anomaly. More were being counted as injured because fewer of them were actually being killed.