I know not every bodies cup of tea as it were but I was quite happy to be able to add this 1953 dated BMB HSAT to my collection last week and IMO was very probably one of 4000 that were ordered by the Canadian Department on National Defense in 1953 to meet the growing demand for equipment to out fit Canada's expanding (MSF) and Airborne forces which consisted of units from the PPCLI,RCR and the R-22-R it has been repainted at least once in it's service life with the same semi gloss OD green as found used on some post war Canadian vehicles,mobile equipment,Mk II's and post war converted Canadian DR to Para helmets.
It is apparent This Mk II HSAT has had a long service life they were used by the Canadian Airborne until replaced by the US M-1C in 1970 it has been well used and has a very nice patina about it the dome pad has been lost to the ages and one of the liner retention nuts and bolts has been replaced with a more modern substitute ( but will be swapped out with an original over the next few days ).
The helmet has at least five different soldiers names and ID numbers written in different locations either on the interior of the shell the liner and or the chinstrap I can only clearly make out two of the names so will need to spend a little more time trying to decipher the others it will make for an interesting research project .
Regards Mark
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