British Light Weight Para helmet

**Jerry B** · 11-03-2017, 09:16 PM

Looks great.

Hard to tell from the pics if the cover etc looks to have much use in this form, there are lots of para lids especially that have covers, nets, band, cats eyes etc and certainly some have been done for display.

If anyone has some cut up inner tubes or boots I'd like one to enhance one of mine.

At least with such pimping, it can be reversed without harm.

**Jerry B** · 11-04-2017, 06:10 PM

My latest addition, para lightweight with smooth shiny shell, though black brow pad and it has a Mk6 chinstrap fitted.

Shell is a Permalli made example and dated 1985 (sorry for the blurry pic but it is clear enough to see).

It has the owners name and number on the back of the shell and also on a sticker in the dome, Parker is clear but not the rest. Also has 56 painted on one side.

**Watchdog** · 11-04-2017, 06:24 PM

by Jerry B

My latest addition, para lightweight with smooth shiny shell, though black brow pad and it has a Mk6 chinstrap fitted.

Shell is a Permalli made example and dated 1985 (sorry for the blurry pic but it is clear enough to see).

It has the owners name and number on the back of the shell and also on a sticker in the dome, Parker is clear but not the rest. Also has 56 painted on one side.

Nice one Jerry, well found I don't think one will find many earlier examples

The number on the side might be taken by many an observer to be one of the "P" Company markers but it is not. Small, green and in only one spot I would say this is the soldiers "last two" ie the last digits of his regimental / service number to mark it so as to be easily spotted as his.

Above the name at the back I am going to say that this is his full service number and that it starts with 250 giving a full number of 250***56 which seems to match the age of the helmet.

I don't have one of these early "shiny" types since I traded my own back in 1987 when I no longer needed it and it was worth more to a collector in Holland than it was in my kit bag! Don't I wish now that I had kept it

Regards

Mark

**Jerry B** · 11-04-2017, 09:24 PM

Mark.

Thanks for the comments and I had thought it likely it was his last two as for different reasons the use of 2 or 3 digits from the number was commonly used by the welsh regiments to differentiate between all the Jones or Thomas's etc.

**Watchdog** · 11-04-2017, 11:45 PM

by Jerry B

Mark.

Thanks for the comments and I had thought it likely it was his last two as for different reasons the use of 2 or 3 digits from the number was commonly used by the welsh regiments to differentiate between all the Jones or Thomas's etc.

Yep, as seen in the movie Zulu of course but in reality a very widespread practice throughout the army. The Brigade of Guards is a case in point.

In one past unit of mine we had several Smiths and the practice of using the "last two" went so far that they were not even known as "Smith 01" etc but simply "01", "39", "14", "72" etc and everybody knew it was a particular Smith being mentioned

"Don't these rednecks have names?" (Cpl Christian Ferdinand Schiess VC, 3rd Natal Native Contingent in Zulu. He was a Swiss BTW)

Regards

Mark

**Jerry B** · 11-05-2017, 08:50 AM

I had assumed smith would be the same and the scots must have this in abundance with the clan names.

I have a cd in the car which has the theme tune from Zulu and the recitation of the medal winners by Richard Burton.

I have a backpack marked Sgt. Jones 06. 2/RWF

**Watchdog** · 11-05-2017, 05:55 PM

by Composite

Are you sure it was dressed and used latterly by a squaddie. I see an awful lot of "plastic" lids which are really well dressed.....but they didn't leave Service like that. I was chatting recently to a mate who drives Challies - he's scrimmed up a purse-net, replaced the drawstring with an elastic loop and he scrims-up (or down) his Cobra in seconds.

Reversing DPM is an innovative way to get closer to the MTP pallet ......though I'm surprised no MTP items were around to use instead. You're right re the inner tubes (which incidentally appear to be a declining resource).....the tops of NBC boots are also good for helmet edges.

'Nice lid - congrats.

I don't disagree with your observation at all and I agree that it can be very hard to tell. I am as sure as one could ever be based on the fact that I have seen an awful lot of kit actually in the field and the variations are as multitudinous as they are personal "art" and style. I have also been a collector long enough to have a fairly reliable "nose" plus my current occupation has me regularly adopting the "believe nobody, challenge everything" model whilst deciding whether the "evidence" is what it purports to be. These three elements tend to help immensley when working out if something has been messed with! There is never a 100% certainty of course without other supporting information but as I say I am as sure as I can be.

As for the availability of MTP I think the best presumption is that yes it was in circulation by the date this lid was probably issued unless that was before 2010 when MTP was released (obviously not within a couple of weeks after manufacture) but for what ever reason an appropriate MTP cover was not available to the owner of this lid. A possibility is that the owner was a reservist (or not an early participant in Op Herrick) and not at the top level of supply priority (the Army has a system for that too

based on role and grading of units) More likely I feel is that it was a deliberate choice. Contrary to belief the average British "Tom" has a defiantly individual streak when it comes to "setting up" his kit

. I myself wore brass shoulder titles (circa 1960 at the latest and I am not that bloody old!!!

) instead of the anodised type which were much smaller,CO's and RSMs loved them for the "BS" factor until I encountered a straight laced QM who ordered me not to

I guess the point is; we can study regulations, period photographs and anecdotes as much as we like but we can never "odds" quite what the indivual soldier did with his personal kit, certainly not in the British Army

And this will torment collectors for ever!
As for the rubber band on this one it looks much more like the butyl rubber material of NBC boots than inner tuber rubber and is quite crudely cut. Stripping it down may well reveal more information but I think I will leave as is for now because as I say I picked it up for the unusual appearance but if I change my mind, as Jerry says above, no harm will be done.

Thanks for the discussion point

Regards

Mark

PS A point to note re timeframe for collectors who do not know; This helmet was manufactured in 2007. It them made its' way through the system from trade to base ordnance pipeline thence to a unit and finally to the head of a soldier. It is rather subjective to suggest how long this may have taken but it could be anywhere between months and a couple of years. MTP camouflage was first issued in March 2010 to units on Op Herrick in Afghanistan and from 2011 to other units on a normal priority basis. In the first instance it circulated alongside DPM (first seen in 1968) and desert DPM (first seen on Op Granby - First Gulf 1990/1) so all three patterns were in circulation until re-issue was complete well beyond the scope of this thread.