Mk 3 Turtle helmet, latest addition.

[Reg]

Hi Gents

I found this in an antique shop on Anglsey a few weeks ago, the shop was closed at the time but they posted it on when I rang later, £25 and happy as it fills a gap in by Brit lid collection. The liner is dated 1945 but the shell is dated 44, it has been painted in a glossy Nato green but the inside retains its original brown/green textured finish and is all in good order.

Just a para lid to get now.....

[Reg]

Attachment 361371

[tinlid]

Produced during the war but saw many years sevice post war, nicely marked MkIII.

[MySonsDad]

These MKIII helmets seem to be pretty scarce. Not on the top of my list of helmets we want to get but I always have my eyes open in case one does pop up and they just don't seem too, very often. Not sure the reason why, I thought they were quite heavely distributed during the war, but I could be wrong. Maybe someone will shed some light on this matter.

Either way, nice lid, would look good in any display.

Russ & Son

[Reg]

Cheers for the comments guys, yes, I almost wrote it off as a mk IV until I gave it a second look, lucky spot really.
Cheers
Reg

[Greg Pickersgill]

The basic mk3 isn't that hard to find, though obviously produced in less number than the later mk4 shell (which is also, with a different liner, the mk5, of course). It's dead easy to spot on eBay or the like if you keep your eyes open. It will rarely be labeled a mk3 because most sellers don't know the difference.

The thing to look for is that the chinstrap rivets are quite obviously higher up the side of the shell than the later version. (The change was made essentially for greater stability). Ideally you will want the original brown canvas mk3 chinstrap and original mk3 liner as well, and te original wartime finish, but bear in mind many of these shells were used for years and underwent refurbishments. Some have the lift-the-dot liner post welded into the crown where the original bolthole was. (One thing many, including me, often forget is that the original Mk3 with nut&bolt had barely been around a year before the lift-the-dot mk4 was developed, essentially because of the utility of being able to use the helmet as a basin/bucket as with the US M1).

[Reg]

Nice to see the powers that be realised that Tommy Atkins needs a pot to p*** in ;-)

[tinlid]

When after a WW2 unmessed with MKIII always go for the dark brown paint & not green. High rivets as already said, & the khaki coloured chin strap without a metal fitting on the end as that strap is for the MkIV.

[tinlid]

Then there are the ones that are a bit of both, a MkIII shell dated 45 but with low chin strap lugs which is really a MkIV. Just using up the left over MkIII shells.

[mk1rceme]

I read somewhere that there were only about 500,000 MkIII's produced. I can see them getting pretty scarce as time goes on.