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

[JohnF]

nice helmets mark, I was going to say there is some variation in the Aussie lids, I have seen one marked inside the liner under the cloth "dunlop" mine does not have this,

[JohnF]

Here is an F&L 1941 made shell with a W&L.C 41 liner, size 7 has a 7 chalked onto the front, not sure if that is something on the side opposite the roundel? and has his name inside

[tinlid]

Always nice to see Australian helmets here, & also the Flying officer Morgan, British Mk2. That's a really nice one.

[Mark K]

Nice one Mark, interesting with the painted rank stars.

Thanx Jerry it is with out a doubt an interesting example and unlike any I have seen before with the rank pips painted on the front it has been speculated that it may have been used at the Canadian Anti Gas Warfare training Center and may have been covered by a gas cape at one time just speculation of course as there is nothing to compare it to..

Hi John Great to see you and your collection here mate always a pleasure to welcome another Canuck to the forum...And yes this example is marked on the reverse side of the rexine liner band with Dunlop...

Regards Mark

[Mark K]

1941 C.L/.C. steel lot batch 35 it is sporting a 42 dated VMC liner in a size 7 1/8. this example has a nice deep rich worn patina that just speaks of heavy field use and has that been there done that look I like so much in my helmets
The real prize of course is that it is fitted with the not often seen first variation Mk II chinstrap with closed center strut.
Backstay standards of Windsor Ontario was the sole producer of all Canadian chinstraps that were manufactured for the Mk II in Canada through out the 1940-1943 production run :
There was only one change instituted on the Canadian produced variation of the Mk II chin-strap.
The earliest chin-straps differed from the later Canadian pattern by having a blackened brass buckle with two closed centre struts, and only one piece of webbing joining the two sprung pieces.
After 1940, Canadian chinstraps had two strips of webbing, one of which has a free sewn-
folded over end, the other of which was sewn to the centre strut of a buckle the sprung canvas ends on the sides of the chinstrap were manufactured with non magnetic springs.

Regards Mark

[Mark K]

I have a small army of 1942 dated C.L./C's in my collection already but they all offer something a little different to the party and I did not have this steel lot batch number yet ( 74 ) and the finish on the exterior is quite flat in comparison to other examples in my collection.
It is sporting a 1943 dated VMC liner in a size 7 1/4 and a lovely C-/l\ stamped chinstrap....

Regards Mark

[Mark K]

1942 dated C.L./C. steel lot batch 94 is sporting a 43 dated VMC liner and is adorned with a divisional flash to the Cape Breton Highlanders with a nice well worn patina showing a few nicks ,scrapes and scuffs and a couple of small impact strikes to the dome.
A close up of the flash reveals that it has very likely been on this example since the beginning.

Divisional Flash Cape Breton Highlanders

image of CBH officer and soldier on Manoeuvres in England 24 November 1942




Regards Mark

[Mark K]

This particular example is a 1941 dated C.L./C. steel lot batch number 33 it is sporting a early shallow type VMC liner the owners name and service number have been scratched into the paint on the under side of the shell near the rim should make for a good research project.
I do rather like the patina, age and crazing to the paint on this one even though only two colors were used I myself consider this a three tone camo paint job as the original painted finish was incorporated in to the pattern the green over paint is quite striking and bold and IMO is of the same color used early war time on Canadian and British vehicles and mobile equipment.
I am still on the fence as it were to if this Mk II was used in the ETO and or if the pattern is a camo ( referred to as the Mickey Mouse pattern) that was used early on in country (Britain) During the quite times known as the Phoney War .
I have included an image from Juno Beach were there is a very similar pattern visible on a Canadian soldiers helmet in the foreground of course with out seeing the image in color it is impossible to tell but does make one consider the possibilities.
I would say the image was taken with in the first couple of days of the D-Day invasion and was on Juno Beach.

Regards Mark

[JohnF]

makes you wonder the story behind some of these helmet, this one ended up in the states and on ebay being sold as a US ww1 helmet, of course its a RASC flashed helmet that has a had a couple of coats of thick sand camo added, its a BMB shell cant make out the date, I added the liner and strap as they were missing

[Mark K]

Nice lid John and yes if they could only talk or even give us a hint as to were they have been....

Regards Mark