Air Force issue ? Helmet

[magpie]

Mystery to me ( as usual ) is it British manufacture ?
I have strained my brains and tried too do some homework on the unusual helmet pad , its oval rather than the usual ww2 era cross shape . I believe its a interwar 30s era helmet liner .
as you can see top lid blue sand textured with the inside also sand textured olive paint
only markings I can find are size 6 -3/4 stamped in white . and in pencil the initials P F H
I purchased this late last year off a contact who i trust and have brought some nice NZ issued items in mint condition before ,
the photos show a Air force ? or police ? blue sand textured lid .
it one my little mystery waiting to be solved lids .
any help and advice highly appreciated
cheers Bruce

[tinlid]

Hi Bruce,
From those pictures it looks like a British Mk2, khaki textured paint inside & out started in around 1941/2, before that it was textured paint on the outside only. The liner is a Mk1, first introduced in 1937 until early 1939, after which it would have been the Mk2 liner which you are more use too, with the cruciform pad.
Being textured paint it would have been issued to the armed forces or the home guard, the blue could be for navy, or might have been some time in the 50's or 60's hard to tell.
I see 1 lid on the floor, have you some more you could post?

[ruddersrangers44]

Aaron is that normal for the liner to shell attachment?no screw,and is it common to see mk1 liners in md-war shells?...........

[tinlid]

The nut & bolt are round the wrong way, normally the nut is inside & the bolt with the slot head on the outside, quite often seen.
Occasionally you see a Mk1 39 dated liner in a 40 or 41 dated shell.

[magpie]

Cheers .
well this is my first MK1 liner in the collection many thanks , I did not even think of navy issue ? The one on the floor is a recent find .a possible Aussie lid from Crete . this will be my next post question soon . I have over 30 lids / hats mostly ww2 era . one of my hats is my pith . I hope its Australian navy . I found a photo on line of a sailor on guard duty wearing one similar WW2 era ? mine is white in colour with makers label , made in Melbourne Australia , a $ 2.00 dump find not kidding , I have dozens of questions and tons of photos to come .but ill drip feed them slowly as to not out do my welcome , many thanks .Bruce

[Jerry B]

Hi Bruce, it would be great to see all your headgear, please post them in individual threads. The pith sounds interesting, I have a few.