Sherman Crew wearing the M38 at Ft. Knox, 1942
The M38 "Helmet, Tank" was developed in 1938 meeting the following criteria: 1) fits inside an M-1 helmet when shrapnel protection is needed; 2) equipped with microphone and earphones, with connecting jacks; 3) protected the crewman's head from hits on the steel interior.  It first saw service in early 1942.                                                                                                                      

 M38 with M44 Issue Goggles                                                                                                                                                           It was made of rubberized fibre/leather with a thicker band of leather stitched around the rim. An inner suspension was made of a cross of soft leather straps. Ten 3/4 inch ventilation holes helped keep heat down while the back of the head was protected by a neck flap of the same material as the cap.              

 Interior                                                                                              

Side ear pieces were loosely attached, each with an R-14 earphone built into a center hole. The ear flaps could be worn flipped up, but inside a tank the noise level was so high that you could hear nothing unless the earphones were right against your ears. Side spring-loaded tabs held the earflaps tightly to the ears when that was desired.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  R-14 Earphones                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        The M38 was generally issued including the T-30 Throat Microphone

The T-30 throat microphone was the most commonly used tank microphone in WW2.  This carbon microphone was strapped around the wearer's neck with the two 1" round pickups made of black rubber contacting the wearer's throat near his Adam's Apple.  It was anchored around the neck with an elastic strap.  The pickups transmitted sound vibrations as the wearer spoke and allowed voices to be heard over the background noise inherent within a noisy battle environment. The T-30 microphone had a small two pronged PL291 plug which was connected to a JK-48 jack on a SW-141 "Push to talk" switch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      M38 Complete                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Rb