1952 dated Mk IV with a Mk V liner

[Mark K]

I have had this particular helmet in my collection for a few months now the shell is a 1952 dated Mk IV manufactured by RO&CO it looks to have had a MOD face lift at least once in her life and is sporting a rough textured finish.
The liner is a Mk V and is dated considerably later 1977 and was manufactured by R.M. Ltd I do not like to ask for assistance as I have been trying to do my own research but I do not have a lot of literature on the Mk IV and Mk V beyond general helmet specs so this particular combination has me scratching my head some
I have a couple of questions possibly you gents could help me with was it common practice to refurbish earlier Mk IV helmets and install the newer Mk V liner system in them at a MOD level and would this helmet then be considered a Mk V .
And I have seen this style of camouflage net on a few examples now but I am still unclear if it is a genuine issued net any help would be much appreciated.

Regards Mark K

[Steelhead10]

yes i think it would be classed as a mk V as they refurbished the mk IV just like they did to the brodie helmet
to make it into the Mk1*

[Mark K]

Thanks for the reply Steelhead I was leaning this way myself but was looking for other opinions on the subject.

Regards Mark K

[Greg Pickersgill]

Unless there's something in the way of a shell modification I don't know about the designation Mk5 denotes only the presence of the new 'sock' liner in a Mk4 shell with lift-the-dot fitting. Actually that could even include those (comparatively few) Mk3 shells that had the LTD spike welded into them, so you can see where all this becomes problematic.

It is instructive to see the leaflet issued with the Mk6 helmet in its early days, which refers specifically to it being a replacement for the Mk4 helmet, with no mention of the Mk5 at all. (See Composite Helmet, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets UNITED KINGDOM, UK HELMETS, BRITISH helmet, Kevlar helmet ). In a sense the Mk5 barely exists, and strictly speaking probably only applied to helmets that were issued with the 'sock' liner installed off the shelf, so to speak. The shells of the 4 and 5 are to all intents and purposes identical and interchangeable. Unless someone can tell me otherwise ....and I'd love to know! We'll see.

[Mark K]

Thanx for the reply and the link Greg makes for some interesting reading I asked the question more so out of my own curiosity as I could not find a lot of information related to the subject and virtually none in my own reference material.

Regards Mark K

[Steelhead10]

no not that i know of the shell wasnt changed only from the mk3 to the mk4 the shell changed

[Mark K]

Thanks very much for the help gents IMO at the moment the Mk IV / V helmets are considered by most collectors as to new to warrant serious consideration in there collections but as time marches on they will become more collectible in the near future.

Regards Mark K

[Greg Pickersgill]

"too new"? Well, I guess it depends, don't it. My area of interest is in post-1950 helmets for the most part, so as far as I am concerned they are almost 'too old'. Mind you of course they did remain in service up to the early 1980s, so that's alright then!

[Mark K]

I my self Greg find them rather interesting and collect mainly WW II commonwealth but do have quite a few more modern Canadian helmets in my collection I guess I should have chosen my words more carefully

Regards Mark K

[Steelhead10]

i dont have a turtle aka mk3 in my collection i have a dutch 1956 mk2 helmet and a British 1940 mk2 No2.c my brother on the other hand has a post war Polish 1953 helmet and a turtle (mk3) 1952 with a 1945 lift the dot liner