Nice War time Mk I HSRAC

**Mark K** · 03-01-2014, 02:21 PM

I have been on the hunt for some time for a nice war time unmolested HSRAC to add to my collection and was lucky enough to acquire this little gem from Dean ( CampX ) last week it is a very welcome addition to my collection of Canadian helmets although these were manufactured in Great Britain they were issued to the RCAC as well in and around July of 1943 the helmets Canadian designation reference number was (1A19120)
I have very little reference material on these types of helmets and my understanding from Aaron (tinlid) is that BMB manufactured all of the P-type shells.
The shell appears to have started its life with a coat of brown Khaki paint which is evident from the interior of the shell the exterior has been repainted in a textured charcoal grey which IMO is war time applied as I have been able to find reference to this type of texturing found on the Canadian issued Steel Mk I's in Lucy's book tin lids and a few other sources was this a Canadian phenomena or were they re textured in Great Britain with charcoal grey as well ? ( Can any one recommend a good site for research and or reference material on the HSRAC )
The liner is a 1942 I.T.C. in a size 6 1/4 it is missing one of it's buffers but is still quite soft a supple the chinstrap is an early Mk III and is correct to this helmet there is period evidence that supports these can be found worn with the standard Mk II chinstrap as well as seen worn by Canadian troops in Italy or Southwestern Europe .

Regards Mark

**tinlid** · 03-01-2014, 04:00 PM

Getting harder to find, from 42 they would have been factory painted khaki green then probably in 43 factory painted dark brown.

**Mark K** · 03-01-2014, 04:12 PM

Thanx Aaron any thought on the charcoal grey textured paint on the exterior.

Regards Mark

**tinlid** · 03-01-2014, 04:51 PM

So hard to say when it was repainted, during the war, or post war? The thick sand textured paint is often seen on post war used helmets. But it would mostly be olive drab colour.

**CampX** · 03-01-2014, 04:54 PM

I have some spare buffers if you need one Mark, I didn't see that one was missing or I would have included a spare to replace it, let me know if you need one.

Dean O
Ajax Canada

**Mark K** · 03-01-2014, 06:48 PM

Hi Aaron best I can tell from the limited info available the charcoal grey textured paint was applied on Canadian Mk I's late war will have to do some more digging around.
Thanx Dean I used my last buffers up to repair a wardens helmet I will PM you a little later in the day.

Regards Mark