Problem #85: Do Helmets Increase Head Injuries?
At the beginning of the first World War, the uniform of the British soldiers
included a brown cloth cap. They were not provided with metal helmets.
As the war went on, the army authorities and the War Office became alarmed at
the high proportion of men suffering head injuries. They therefore decided to
replace the cloth headgear with metal helmets. From then on, all soldiers wore
the metal helmets. However, the War Office was amazed to discover that the incidence of head injuries then increased. It can be assumed that the intensity of
fighting was the same before and after this change. So why should the recorded
number of head injuries per battalion increase when men wore metal helmets
rather than cloth caps?