The Canadian Mk II and its components

[RVLucy]

I see a few flashed helmet bodies in the mix .

Indeed, I see a very nice Royal Canadian Engineers example there.

While not a complete listing Service Publications has posted a good selection of Second World War Canadian helmet flashes here
Request Rejected
Roger

[Mark K]

Many thanks for the link Roger Service Pub( Request Rejected) has some rather good resources that are easily accessible online as well from there home page.

Regards Mark

[RVLucy]

I have two variations of this chinstrap with the closed center strut and the blackened buckle in my collection the one is a true khaki in color and bares the C-/l\ mark .
While the other I have was manufactured from webbing and material that is slightly greener in color and IMO not a true brown Khaki and the material used in the webbing is a slightly looser weave the second example I have bares the Canadian Government acceptance stamp which is with out a doubt post 1949 applied.
So now we come to the question's were there two variations of this chinstrap produced early war and post war,Were these chinstraps pulled from military stores and reissued post war and stamped as such I do find this a possibility as I have a standard war time produced Mk II chinstrap in my collection which bares the Canadian Government acceptance stamp,Or are they an early post war produced strap I am afraid I do not have the answer to these questions and the debate is on going you will have to draw your own conclusions .

Mark,
I find it in interesting this speculation about whether the chin-straps with the closed buckle are post-war or not. With two exceptions my examples are on 1940-dated helmets. The exceptions are interesting, as one has been rather crudely wired to an M1 shell (one of the 200,000 dropped on DND's door-step in April 1943) the other is detached and comes with a 1959-dated sealed pattern tag. Now the dates on these tags may have little relationship to the date the kit was produced, for example I have a sealed-pattern BMB 1953 HSAT Mk.II whose tag is dated 1958, and a bi-coloured net whose tag is dated 1982(!) - these all came from a chap in DND who was cleaning out his office. However it would seem to indicate that the early pattern chin-strap was used a model for some post-war production. However neither in anyway differs from those on the 1940 helmets so I think they are original war-time straps. Unfortunately I have not encountered any with the greener web and 1949 Property Mark.
Roger

[Mark K]

Thanks for the reply Roger as to the speculation over the chinstrap with the closed center strut being Wartime and or Post war produced I agree a very interesting discussion as stated I have couple of examples exhibiting differences in the color and or the textiles that were used during construction.
This of course could be due to multiple factors but there is a post 49 era Canadian government acceptation stamp on the one and the color is more of khaki green.
The other examples I have which are the service khaki brown we are accustomed to seeing on wartime chinstraps and are C-/l\ marked as seen earlier in the thread, IMO the chinstrap in question was early war produced and discontinued sometime in 1940 and the Canadian Military adopted the said British variation as there own .
I have yet to see a Period image of a Canadian soldier wearing this style strap on his helmet though but this is not to say it is not so and did not happen.
I am rather curios though why these particular straps for the most part are found only on 1940 dated examples and or on a very rare occasion by collectors on post war reworked helmet bodies which on the norm Post war marked and can be found with a slightly different color dye used in the textiles .
Was there a surplus of these straps reissued and used postwar I do not have a definitive answer and so can only speculate here is an example of the said strap in a more khaki green and post 49 stamped from my collection for your consideration.

Regards Mark

[ComradeYouri]

I have a question: Did they use early war made bodies or complete helmets late in the war as well?

[Mark K]

Hi Youri yes the earliest Canadian produced Mk II helmets ( 1940 )were used through out the duration of the war as there really was no physical change in the design of the helmet body just a few upgrades to the liner system to make them a more comfortable fit.

Regards Mark

[ComradeYouri]

Hi Youri yes the earliest Canadian produced Mk II helmets ( 1940 )were used through out the duration of the war as there really was no physical change in the design of the helmet body just a few upgrades to the liner system to make them a more comfortable fit.

Regards Mark

Thank you for your reply Mark,

I'm still a bit confused why some liners have MK I stamped in them, why did they do that while it's a MK II helmet?

[Mark K]

I do not know if I can offer up a logical answer Youri as you have noted all Canadian war time produced liners will either be marked as Mk I and or Mk II .
There is only speculation that the liner Mk I being an earlier variation liner with out the buffer retention springs may have something to do with the classification as a Mk I liner as the design slightly changed to include this upgrade after July of 1941 I will have to do some comparing of examples from my collection to see if this truly is the case and get back to you on this.

1940 dated Liner Mk I


1945 dated Liner Mk II with spring retention clips for the buffers


Regards Mark

[ziomanno]

Hi Mark; do you have any idea about the white "patina" that covers all the Canadian made liners? I noticed that the British made are always shiny black instead.

[Mark K]

As best I can tell when I compare the textiles that were used in the construction of Canadian liners it is a different medium than its British cousins a little thicker and it has been finished in a different way as the material in question seems more porrus in nature that said I would think they would have a tendency to dirty and stain much easier as well but would allow for a more secure fit to the head with less slippage .

Regards Mark