Canadian Mk II Flashed as a Assistant Instructor with shrapnel strike
I thought I would share this rather interesting 1942 dated C.L/.C. that I recently added to my collection firstly it has a wonderful patina to the exterior of the helmet body and shows a good amount of wear that is indicative to a field worn example so it does indeed have that been there done that look I like so much in my helmets it is sporting a hand painted flash that denotes that the Soldiers was at one time appointed to the Instructional Cadre the ( A I ) flash on the side of the Mk II denoted the wearer as an Assistant Instructor and very likely would have taught at a training centres, school or perhaps at a Battalion level in Canada and or perhaps abroad in Great Britain helmets sporting this particular flash are extremely rare and this is only the third example that I have ever seen and IMO would have been covered over and or the flash removed once the NCO/Officer fulfilled his duty and moved on to another posting...
Of duel interest is the shrapnel strike and or bullet strike on the side of the helmet body ( I am of the opinion it is a shrapnel strike ) which at one time had been covered up on the inside with what I believe would have been medical tape which I can only speculate would have been added to keep out the elements the strike does indeed raise some questions and while discussing it with a friend and fellow collector yesterday he did bring up an interesting point " was it a result of live fire training that got too lively, or did the occupant finish his time as an instructor with a trip to Europe? Soldiers sent over to England as replacements were placed in Reinforcement Units before being assigned to units and received on-going training there ".
It was further suggested by the previous owner that perhaps after the soldier had finished his time as an instructor that he was indeed reassigned and would have simply covered the helmet with a net before shipping out to the Theatre of Operations...
So many unanswered questions on this particular Mk II and one can only speculate as to how the damage happened and I am hopeful that a thorough hands on inspection might reveal the remnants of a name and or service number...
Regards Mark
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its just an opinion.
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by Jerry B
Leon.
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