British Helmet Identification Falkland Islands War

[Mark K]

Gents this helmet related image was posted on a different venue that I belong to in regards to a helmet in my collection I am having a hard to Identifing the helmet that is being worn by the soldier on the far right hand side and bottom row of the image.
My Best guess from the low profile,flattened sides and shape it is a P pattern.
Is it Mk II HSRAC and or a Mk II HSAT though of particular interest to me is the helmet body it self appears to be painted in camouflage pattern as I do not believe at least from this image that it is sporting a cover with the exception of the camoflauge net of course .
Has any one seen this particular image before and were there others taken at the same time of this particular unit that would show some more detail of the helmet in question or have any further details on the Army group and or unit involved .
Sorry picture quality is not the best but it is all I have to work with.

Regards Mark

[Greg Pickersgill]

Well, speaking as someone very interested in the Falklands/Malvinas War and a helmet collector, I can say that it is usually *very* difficult to absolutely identify any helmets worn there as they are so larded with cloth, net, foliage, w.h.y.. Eminently practical and advisable in the circumstances no doubt, but a pain for the amateur historian/collector. Except of course for those to whom the fabric is more important than the metal or plastic, and they are legion.

I'm willing to risk a guess that this is a second-pattern Para Light Weight, Thetford model. But I wouldn't put money or even reputation on it.

[Mark K]

Thanks for the reply Greg it was more the helmet body I was interested in as it stands out amongst the rest and its appearance of being painted instead of swathed in a cover.
I am having a hell of a time with this one I wish the image was better are you thinking then that there is a tight cover on the helmet and or has the helmet body been painted in a camo pattern.
To be honest I can not tell .

Regards Mark

[kfssir]

We were not in the habit of painting our helmets, as this could generate a shine. So i suggest its a very tight piece of cammo material or a hood from the combat jacket (issued with jacket). After the war i was at Warminister (courses) and every DS was a Falkland veteran, all with stories but no paint!

Paul

[Mark K]

Thanks for the reply this one had me scratching my head some

[James C]

hi mark ,a worthy question and as you say very difficult to say for sure due to the quality ,please forgive me as this is just my opinion but im wondering if its the 3rd battalion parachute regiment ,my gut feeling judging by the shell profile is its an m76 para lightweight ,also the chinstrap seems thicker than found on the 44 pattern para mk11
i would say its camo cover is maybe a section dpm material tightly bound under the netting ,ive just found a few old pics from my hardrive ,you can see how my rac mk11 had a similar section of dpm camo ,my para lightweight is fitted with a mk6 dpm cover that has lost its foliage bands ,you may also recognise a few items that reside in your collection now cheers james

[Tinhat]

Mark/James, I was going to go for 3 Para, I think you can see the dark green shoulder patch on the two below, but it isn't very clear.



The helmet looks to me to be the M76 with the earlier wider chinstrap arrangement and a tight fitting camo cover, a few more pictures below and a couple of links to photos on Youtube.









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfU2h-RGP1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXK6HDcpTYo

Steve

[James C]

nice detective work and referance pictures steve

[Mark K]

Thanks James and Steve for your imput I have had this Mk II HSRAC in my collection now for sometime and to date have not been able to find another example and or one that has a comparable camo pattern painted on the exterior so my search continues.

Regards Mark

[Watchdog]

Thanks James and Steve for your imput I have had this Mk II HSRAC in my collection now for sometime and to date have not been able to find another example and or one that has a comparable camo pattern painted on the exterior so my search continues.

Regards Mark

Hi Mark, I just saw this thread and thought to add my six pennywoth.

I think you would be hard pressed to find another painted helmet like the one you show, certainly with soley British Army provenance. This is simply something that is not done and very unlikely to have been tolerated in any regular unit. I can't speak for reservist units but I still think it very unlikely. I suspect the paint job was done after the lid left British Army ownership at least. Even if I am not 100% correct here this would so rare an occurrence as to make this example pretty unique!

As for the helmet at the top of the thread I agree that this is an M76 with a close fitting cloth cover. As I recall from my service the issue cover was much tighter fitting than that on the Mk6 and of a different design in that it had different and less elastic straps on the outside. The elastic was often seen to be missing and in many cases it was cut off deliberately. This was usually because it stretched and sagged which just didn't "look the part" in any case if a net was fitted (not all troops got nets) the elastic was redundant. Many soldiers put black tape (usually black plastic insulating tape but also the famous "black nasty" masking tape) around the helmet rim to avoid wear to the cover. Scrim was also attached to some but not all lids. The accepted position at the time was that such material flapping around on the head might present a tangle hazard when parachuting. All the above can in some images create the impression of different helmets but believe me, in regular army units that would be very unusual to say the least. The British Army have always been a little fastidious about the principle of "uniform".

I hope this adds to the thread.

Regards

Mark