Canadian turtle shell?

[cydrych]

Hi all,

My father found this helmet alongside with its original owner back when he was a kid in the 60's, he was walking alongside a creek
after a storm, which caused the creek banks to collapse. while on his walk he spotted this helmet that had resurfaced, when removing the helmet he also found the original owner, he reported his findings to his neighbor who was an officer in the Belgian army. once a team had excavated the remains of the soldier, the officer informed my dad that he had found a lost Canadian soldier from WW2 and that he was wearing a turtle shell, the officer allowed my dad to keep the helmet.

Now here's my question, I also own another Canadian turtle shell and when comparing the two to each other I find a lot of differences, after doing some more research on Canadian helmets Im unable to find this specific helmet design, now is this really a Canadian helmet or is it something else?

There are also no markings in the helmet.

ps: the helmet was found in Brasschaat Belgium.

Thanks in advance!

greetings
cydrych

[tinlid]

No, not a Canadian helmet, with those slots in the brim, it might be a Dutch helmet. I'm sure someone will know.
Great story of the find though.

[Tinhat]

It is a Dutch Model 16, the small air vent holes (second photo in the center) make it the first pattern shell.

Here is the good link for more information.
World War Helmets - Casque Modele 16

An overlooked helmet of the WWI period in my opinion.

Steve.

[Irish1965]

Dutch M16 Steel Helmet
This is the first domestic model Dutch helmet, and utilizes a design that is a cross between British and French helmets from the First World War. It is made of a single piece and features a three-pad liner system. This model remained in service with units up until the beginning of World War II.

Pretty rare. A nice find.

Cheers Paul

[cydrych]

Thanks all for the help, now I'm really curious how that a Dutch soldier ended up in Belgium!

greetings
cydrych

[Watchdog]

Thanks all for the help, now I'm really curious how that a Dutch soldier ended up in Belgium!

greetings
cydrych

Yep, very different to a MkIII.

More to the point does this mean that the body was mis-identified, especially if a name was attributed?

It seems possible that the body was not that of a soldier at all?

Intriguing but I guess we will never know.

Regards

Mark

[cydrych]

Hi Mark,

The body was found with military equipment such as a Rifle, Ammo, uniform buttons (apparently there was also a dog tag found) etc...

The officer who gave the helmet to my dad might have not known the true identity of the body yet, but presumed that the helmet was Canadian and that therefor the soldier was also Canadian.

I believe that it is possible that a Dutch unit retreated and got themselves into Belgium where they encountered a German force. The body was found only 5km south of the Belgium/Dutch border.

But like you said, we'll probably never know.

greetings
cydrych

[toot]

you can see where a bullet keyholed , SIDE WAYS into it.

[cydrych]

you can see where a bullet keyholed , SIDE WAYS into it.

Now that you say that, I always thought that the bullet entered from an angle!

Thanks for pointing that one out!

greetings
cydrych