1940 Dated C.L./C. Steel Lot Number 1

**Mark K** · 10-08-2019, 01:05 PM

I am really pleased to be able to add this helmet to my collection as I have been on the hunt for a first production run example for many years..
Canadian 1940 dated Mk II as produced by the Canadian Motoramp Company ( C.L./C. ) steel lot batch code number 1 so one of the very first Mk II helmets manufactured by Canada at the beginning of the war..
As permission and licencing was not granted from Great Britain to produce the Mk II in Canada till late in 1939 and or early 1940 the official Procurement of Canadian versions of the British Mk II helmet was initiated on January 25,1940, and the first contracts being awarded on May 25 1940...
It shows some nice honest patina and wear to the inside and outside of the helmet body..
An interesting anomaly worth mentioning this particular 1940 dated C.L./C. Mk II has a very small C-/l\ stamped in the steel on the exterior of the helmet body right next to the helmet lug retaining rivet to date I have only seen four or five other early C.L./C. examples that bare this stamp and IMO this was only done for a very short period of time and possibly only on the original first contract order of the first 25.000 shells
All the examples I have seen that bare the small C-/l\ mark on the exterior of the shell are dated from 1940 and have very low steel lot batch numbers having another 1940 dated example steel lot batch 7 that is sporting the same stamp and a 1940 dated example steel lot batch 15 that does not.
The Canadian Motorlamp Company used consecutive numbers throughout their entire production run from 1940-1943 and as there is no documented information available on how the steel batch codes correlate to manufacturers dates and or production runs one can only speculate as to when exactly in 1940 helmets baring this particular stamp were produced .

Regards Mark