Battle Damaged 1941 MK1 Helmet

**Adrian Stevenson** · 04-19-2009, 09:30 PM

Hi Guys, I thik the damage was done to de-militarise it as part of the scraping process. These helmets were just not used overseas or for combat.

Cheers, Ade.

**donnie** · 04-19-2009, 09:44 PM

Hi Ade,

Thanks for the help, the inside of the lid is painted Dark Green also there are traces on the top. Inside it is dated 1941 and stamped MK1....

Donnie

**Adrian Stevenson** · 04-19-2009, 09:48 PM

That is conventional.

The helmet would go through the normal production process with stamps paint etc. It is the drilled holes and exterior paint which donote the MK. (Very similar idea to the German banded M35/40's.) Just a simple way of determining they were unfit for frontline use.

Cheers, Ade.

**donnie** · 04-19-2009, 09:57 PM

Who would have then taken it onto a range and fired at it? then taken a tool to it? sorry, not trying to be daft just a question. Also, if it was of inferior quality wouldnt it have been melted down to make a new one?.
In your previous post you refered to it as a MK11 NoC, but (sorry for being daft again) it is stamped up as a Mk1 inside....besides, i have known my mates grandfather for years and i cant see how a Wehrmacht soldier would have picked up a helmet that never made it overseas?

Donnie

**Adrian Stevenson** · 04-19-2009, 10:08 PM

They were kept for use in the UK. The Home Guard, Civil Defence etc got them. Plenty good enough for them. As I said before they were never stampted differently it is the holes that denote the MK.

There is no telling when or how the old boy picked it up or how it got damaged, we can only speculate on that.

Cheers, Ade.

**donnie** · 04-19-2009, 10:13 PM

Ok no worries mate, thanks for the help. Next time i see him i shall ask....

Donnie

**Gary J** · 04-21-2009, 01:41 PM

Just to clarify ..
You can find helmets with 2, 3, or 4 holes drilled in them ...
As Ade said, these were to indicate "Not for Battlefield use"

The number of holes indicates the grade .. 2nd, 3rd, 4th ...

What happened was some helmets were produced in an inferior mild steel and did not come up to the required spec of the carbon steel shells after inspection.
The "poor batch" helmets were then sent on .. drilled .. fitted out and issued for homefront duties etc.

This actually puts pay to a story circulating, that the holes indicated South African production rather that British.

Gary J.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 04-21-2009, 09:48 PM

Hi Gary, South African helmets do have holes in them for a neck flap a la French Foreign Legion style. But these holes are not placed like these.

Cheers, Ade.

**Nige H** · 04-22-2009, 01:13 AM

Due to the steel used there was quite a high reject rate. Combat helmets were made from "Hadfield steel" better known as Manganese Steel. The helmet was formed from a flat sheet, that was die struck in a press to create the finished shape. The pressing and stretching of the steel during the forming of the brim and dome of the helmet also cold hardened the steel, known as "work hardening". After trimming the excess metal from the brim the helmets were then tempered by heat treatment to give them the correct hardness. However at any stage of production of the shell, the metal could develop stress fractures due to the method of manufacture, and so these seconds were used for less important roles. But in practice some combat helmets developed stress cracks after a period of frontline use, this is particularly common on early production M1 Steel helmets (fixed bale type). Also for the home front a mild steel helmet of the standard "Tommy" design was produced, however what ballistic protection this would offer if any is debatable, but I'm sure its was better than having no head protection whatsoever.

Nige.