mkII (&mkI or earlier) Helmets Steel, British & Commonwealth, show yours

[ynot]

Here are two helmets I’ve just bought and just wanted to ask a couple of questions about them.

The first one was originally green, the outside has been painted over black and the remains of the W is visible under the paint however, I was wondering if the W that is visible looks recent or if it appears to have been there 70 odd years? I thought it was a recent addition but am not 100% sure.

The second one is a green warden's helmet and has a strange mark on the liner which looks like 35 and the Canadian C with broad arrow. With this one I’d like to ask if it’s the correct colour for early wartime helmets and what the mark in the liner means.

The colour green under the brim of the early issue black helmet appears to be a little darker than the green warden's helmet.

Thanks for any comments.
Tony

[Composite]

Any chance of some pics?

They sound as if there's a bit of Irish in there...but......

[Composite]

Oooops...sorry - slow loading!!!

[ynot]

And the green warden's helmet.

Tony

[ynot]

Oooops...sorry - slow loading!!!

No worries, I got the photos mixed up and was fiddling around editing.

[Steelhead10]

here is a picture of my Dutch mkII the one in the net with my British mkII N02c shell made By BMB and liner mad by TTC both in 1940

[Mark K]

And the green warden's helmet.

Tony

Hi Tony the mark on the liner is not Canadian and if memory serves me correct is an early British Goverment acceptance stamp the the arrow is always in side the C and never protrudes on the Canadian C-/l\ and they are not common and are normally found as a white ink stamp.
IMO they are found only on early production liners such as on the one as shown on the example below in comparison to the one found on the liner on your example .

Regards Mark

[ynot]

Thanks Mark,

Now that you mention it, I do remember Aaron saying the same in a thread somewhere here.

Do you know if the colour matches the early wartime helmets? I don't get to see Commonwealth helmets in the flesh too often so don't have any comparisons.

Tony

[Mark K]

The color green to me on the Wardens helmet looks to dark and not the correct color to be Irish issued and if I remember rightly and Aaron may correct me on this but I believe there are other known early examples of Brit flashed CD helmets that still bare there original factory green paint but they are uncommon.

Regards Mark

[tinlid]

Hi Tony, I think it looks like the original khaki green, although worn & a bit faded, which can throw you sometimes.
Here's a few pics of mine.