Egyptian MKII clone (need more info.)

[magicdutchmen]

Hello all,

This helmet came in yesterday with a bunch of other ones all originating from Egypt. I've been looking for a similar example just as mine and could only come up with one from a Russian auction site. Does anyone know more about these?
It's stamped out of one piece of metal. Will post the other two when I know more about this one.





,Ray

[magicdutchmen]

Can anyone confirm it's Egyptian?

[Totenhead]

Hi Magicducthman

Can you do magic and make it vanish !! Only kidding !!! I have never heard of this, can you educate me please??

Cheers
Martin

[Greg Pickersgill]

No idea at the moment, but steady on the case. It does have a very slight resemblance to a rather unusual private-purchase civil helmet made in the UK during the early part of WW2, but it isn't that at all. Just basing my opinion on known knowns I'd have guessed there was no requirement for Egypt to produce helmets at all; plenty of British Mk1 and 2 left over after the semi-occupation of WW2, and after that enormous amounts of materiel bought or donated by eastern bloc countries, Polish helmets especially. I would guess the same sort of reasoning may apply to, for example Joradan. And I checked a webpage detailing early locallly made Israeli helmets, and its not one of them either. In general I would be slightly more inclined to see it as an industrial protective helmet than a military one, but am wide open to new news.

[magicdutchmen]

Thanks for your reply Greg!
Here´s the example from the Russian dealer site:




And this one that was pointed out to me by a friend on a Russian auction site (slightly different configuration):



The liner on my example is exactly the same as found in a British shell that was in the bunch.

[magicdutchmen]

Posting a photo of Egyptian POW's with on the front captured MK.II helmets 1956.

[Greg Pickersgill]

This is typical. Of me. I kept thinking there was something vaguely familiar about this, those big nobbly rivets and that bilious green. Well, it finally dawned on me. Back in 2007 a Polish helmet correspondent sent me pics of the same model helmet as shown in the Russian auction pics. Obviously I had no better idea then about its true origin than I do now, and showed the picture about a bit tp some long-time collectors, and *no-one* had a clue; general opinion was that it was indeed an industrial protective helmet rather than military, and certainly no-one offered the idea that it may have been made or used in Egypt or anywhere similar. I would bet money this is an industrial helmet originating somewhere in eastern Europe.

[magicdutchmen]

Thanks for your reply Greg it seems this is the most plausible hypothesis.
Here's a Zuckermann helmet that was in the bunch, Egyptian eagle on the front, unfortunately no liner.