What kind of helmet is this?

[hotrodbadgirl]

I acquired this at a garage sale with a lot of military collectibles. The collector is now deceased so there was no one to answer questions. Can anybody please help me to identify it? I thought it was a British WW1 Brodie helmet with a sun flap since there are no side rivets for attaching the chin strap as with the Doughboy helmets. It looks like a sort of split pen attachment. The texture is very light and not as rough as the ones with sand or sawdust. There is a stamp - VB 56 5SLN on the underside of the brim edge and another faint stencil or ink stamp inside - I cannot quite make it out. Somebody told me they thought it was a WW2 civil defense helmet but it doesn't have a govt. CD stamp as I thought they did. Maybe it is British civil defense - I don't know. I am lost, can anybody help? Thank you in advance!

[stuka f]

found thise ;
costumezone.com/Doughboy_Helmet_World_War_One.asp
but it doesn't get us any wiser, exept about the value.

[stuka f]

here is the good link
Doughboy Helmet - World War One, costume-hats, Halloween Costumes, Hat, CHT - CostumeZone ® Your Costume Superstore on the Internet (TM)

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi, not British or US but it is DUTCH.

Here is a link, although in Spanish I think you will understand just from the pics:

HOLANDÉS MK2

Cheers, Ade.

[emileverbunt]

Hello,

Adrian is right. This is a Dutch MkII clone. Produced by Verblifa, The Dutch helmet manufacturer. VB 56 stands for manufacturer and year of production. SL etc stands for the steel batch number. The ink stamp indicates acceptence by the ministry of defense. "Goedgekeurd" means approved in Dutch.

These clones were destined for the Dutch Civil Defense and were used until the disbandment of the organisation in the late 80's, when stock was sold off.

The leather neckpiece makes this a helmet for fire brigade use of the CD.

These helmets were never used by the army. The Dutch army used ex-British MkII's and MkIII's till about the mid 50's after which they adopted a variant of the US M1 with the same chinstrap as your MkII clone.

Cheers,
Emile
(The Netherlands)

[colt45]

first one i saw with a firemans leather neck shield

[emileverbunt]

Most come without the leather neck shield. It is detachable so many were discarded I think. To detach it you would have to remove the liner and then you can take out the neck shield.

Cheers,
Emile

[shlaber1]

I was under the impression that the leather neck shield was issued to dispatch riders, like those used by the British before they developed the helmet similar to the paratrooper helm.

[emileverbunt]

Dear Anzhela,

Perhaps I should call this type a neck flap.

To my understanding the despatch riders helmet has a leather neck cover which closes under the chin (buckle) and is a tight fit on the neck (lace) and ears. This should be called a neck shield?!

The neck flap on this Dutch CD helmet is a loose affair, which is attached to the rear of the helmet and covers the neck loosely. Its purpose is to protect the wearer from embers and small parts of debris.

Can you agree?

Cheers,
Emile

[ZERO]

for me is an very beautiful helmet ,regards adrian