We SHOULD.
I recently read that a boxed and dated Mk6 (sic) (I suspect they meant Mk6ALPHA) had been observed dated 2014 and another dated 2013. I've travelled around UK shows and last year (mid '16) saw my first Virtus in the flesh at “Tankfest” and soldier told me he'd had it a while (let's assume late '15?) one must ask if the Mk7 could easily disappear from history (which is fitting as my understanding has always been that it was meant to be an interim step). But you still don't see boxes of 7s at Fairs for sale - indeed you see very few out in the open for sale (tho quite a few on Ebay)...will they be refurbed and sold to another country?
It's made me think.....the 7 is, for most of us here, the only Brit lid we've seen come and go (consciously) and yes, I know the Mk6 has been around but it was trialed in the South Atlantic so had clearly been on its way well before then (and whilst I was collecting in the late 70’s I wasn’t too interested in those new-fangled plastic helmets rumoured to be on their way to replace the upgraded “Turtle”). There was no Internet and 6’s certainly didn’t appear at Fairs for many years (no Ebay either…or the amazingly helpul and beautifully presented “CompoSite” website – plug plug). All this has made me think….do we, as custodians of this helmet period, actually know when the 6A, 7 and now Virtus started to be used? This has happened on our watch….if someone knows it should be us….and every year that passes could make it harder (although released files /Kew will help someone who probably hasn’t been born yet!). I don’t think we know do we? ..and yet it happened here folks…..
There's some useful snippets from serving and ex-servers here ....guys who've actually worn these things (thanks guys by the way - your "been there" input really helps) but they tend to know when THEY got THIERS and perhaps not when they were actually introduced...and yes, I appreciate that a date on box or helmet isn't the date it first went onto someones head....
And we know there's always an overlap.....Turtles (note how I avoided the much disputed number "5") to 6s, 6s to 6As, 6As to 7s and now 7s to Virtus (Virtuses? Virti?)..and depending on the units it looks like there could be doubling up too - were some folk still wearing 6As whilst others were getting Virtus???? I'm ASSUMING that there's not a serving Brit soldier wearing a 6A now......is there? I'm also assuming that EVERYONE has or has had a 7?????...and don't get me started on the PECOC!
……what ARE the key dates?
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