British WWII Airborne helmet
Article about: Dear all, I have a Mk.III helmet and I bought it as an original one but I am not an expert on British helmets. Please, would it be possible for you take a look at the pics I have and help me
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A wartime example that has been repainted on the outside, most likely post war. The dark brown wartime textured paint is on the inside.
Untouched these now go for a lot of money, yours as it has been over painted, are not that desirable to the purest, but still fetch well over £200, and on a good day more than double that.
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Thank you very much Tinlid for your help!!!
Best regards,
Alex Triffoni.
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Yours is the 4th type of Para steel helmet, the "HSAT Mk2". I agree with TinLid, I think it's WWII issue.
However, I'm sure that the chinstrap is post 1955. Para chinstraps get grubby after time so it's likely that the original chinstrap was replaced by it's user, postwar.
I have both a WWII issue and postwar (1956) HSAT Mk2 in storage. I remember there's a difference with the bales buckles but from memory, I can't tell which from which.
If you refit a chinstrap with BRASS fittings, you'd fully restore it to WWII issue, except for the paint job. Ironic - those WWII brass fittings chinstraps made a comeback in the 1980s when the original composite helmet PVC chinstraps were replaced with whatever could be gotten by storemen...
The "77" might be a P Company number or (less likely) a wings course number.
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BALES:
Yep, yours are WWII. Just saw the postwar bales on this helmet:
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/airbo...ii-sat-659346/
More irony: his chinstrap is the WWII brass fiitings type, I've been harping on about...
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Thank you very much for adding more information!!!
Learning a lot here!!!
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