Norwegian Reissued Mk II

**Mark K** · 10-21-2013, 02:09 PM

Morning Gents I came upon this little Gem a few days ago and as most examples of Norwegian reissues I see come up for sale are either near mint or in unissued condition this particular helmet caught my eye I would say the heavy ware and patina was caused by a mixture of usage and bad storage I think it just adds character to this lid and as I like my helmets a little salty and or field worn I just could not leave it behind take note of the Norwegian coat of arms decal that is barely visible on the front of the helmet .
No Mk II collection is complete with out a Norwegian and or Dutch post war example to round things off .
The shell on this particular example is 1940 dated and was manufactured by RO&CO Rubery Owen&Co Ltd. (Darlaston) I believe the chin strap to be a Mk III and IMO the liner is Dutch Post war manufactured any and all comments are welcome.

Regards Mark K

**tinlid** · 10-21-2013, 03:23 PM

Can't say I ever seen a post war Norwegian Mk2 before, most of the Dutch liners I've seen have been the Mk2 type with a cruciform pad, while this one looks like a copy of the Mk1 with an oval pad.

**Mark K** · 10-21-2013, 04:45 PM

The liner on this one had me scrambling around some and the closest I could come up with was a Dutch post war manufactured example as I do not have it in hand yet that theory may be put to the test under further investigation time will tell with any luck I will be able to peg it down I am hopefull that there will be some markings on the liner.

Regards Mark k

**Greg Pickersgill** · 10-21-2013, 05:29 PM

I must say I would not have immediately thought this was a Dutch-refurbished Norwegian reissue. Can you tell us why you assumed that in the first place? Certainly the liner is not what I would expect, and pretty much all the Dutch rebuilds have the characteristic two piece chinstrap with arrowhead fastener.

That being said, from what I can see in the photo the corwn pad doesn't look like the original British-made oval pad either. Can you post a pic with the liner flaps opened out, perhaps? Must be missing something here.

**Mark K** · 10-21-2013, 05:44 PM

Hi Greg as to the liner I am basing my findings on three other examples I have found out there this is not to say I am correct and I hope once I have it in hand that some further investigation and some new images will shed some light on this odd liner .

Regards Mark K

**Mark K** · 10-22-2013, 01:27 PM

Thanks for the replies Greg and Aaron after the discussion yesterday I went back and really started to look at this liner and comparison liners in Dutch Post war Mk II's and you were correct Greg I am missing the boat on this one as it were the liners I looked at all though very close in comparison are not the same and the dome pad is very odd and all most all of the Dutch post war retro fits bare the crucifix style dome pad.
And resembles as you stated a dome pad from a British Mk I live and learn I stand corrected this still leaves a big unanswered question in my mind as to the liner and dome pad from this helmet with any luck once I get it in hand the liner will reveal some of it's secrets.
So if you gentlemen will excuse me it is time to go out and have the dinner special

Regards Mark K

**tinlid** · 10-22-2013, 03:55 PM

There's no humble pie at all Mark, I can't say I've seen this style liner before so would be good to see some close up pics.Is it Norwegian, repro' or something else? Whatever it is we will all learn from it.

**Mark K** · 10-22-2013, 05:04 PM

Thanx for that Aaron I have much to learn still when it comes to Mk II's and there post war derivatives .

Regards Mark K

**Mark K** · 11-03-2013, 10:19 AM

Some helmets arrived in the post while I was away here are a few images of the liner IMO not a repo it would appear to be well used I do not think I have ever seen a liner quite like this one before and made me lol when I pulled it from the shell .
As Halloween has just passed the phrase Frankenstein's monster

comes to mind the liner started its life as a 7 1/4 1942 dated ITC which has had a few modifications

I wonder if I should replace it or leave her as it still displays rather nice.

Regards Mark K

**Greg Pickersgill** · 11-03-2013, 01:47 PM

OK, I have seen (in fact I own) Greek-refurbished Mk2s which have those felt bumpers as yours does, so that set me off looking around. And I found a picture of a definate known Greek-refurbished Mk2 (you can see it is a ROCO 1940 product) with the same oval crown-pad as yours (described in the original notes as a 'stuffed leather'). I would guess that particular pad is pretty uncommon, but it did awaken a certain recognition in me when I first browsed this thread, but I couldn't track it down until getting the second clue of the felt bumpers.

The pad in the picture attached is described as held by a copper rivet, but your nut&bolt set as shown (which certainly look South African) would be equally appropriate.

Quite large quantities of Mk2 were refurbished in Greece in the end-days of WW2 and the Civil War period (and probably later too) and they are not at all uniform - we usually expect them all to have the characteristic aluminium liner cradle but that's not always true. There are a baffling number of varieties - a whole collection it itself really. Overlook these unusual objects as your peril!

I still don't entirely understand why this was thought to be Norwegian in the first place?!?!?!