Strange Brodie/Tommy helmet Need Help

[Danishkaiser]

Any ideas as to what kind of Brodie/Tommy helmet this is? Rivet placement and liner are completely different from anything I've seen. Seems to lack the manganese rim around the helmet, could be a Mk. I shell but seller claims that there are no visible stamps. Some groups on facebook have said it might be a Dutch M16 variant, Greek produced, or a British Mk. II Civil Defence helmet, but I cannot find anything on the interwebs that supports either point.

Any ideas as to what this is and where it is from?

[Greg Pickersgill]

This is an interesting thing. I'm pretty confident we can discount Dutch or Greek, and probably British CD as well, unless it is something *very* unusual.

Two questions - is that black liner band metal, or leather, or what?, and, where is/was it being sold from? Might be a clue.

This is a fascinating oddity. I do wonder if it is a 'construct' rather than any kind of official issue or even private purchase helmet. Then again there were a lot of unusual private-purchase helmets produced duting the '14-'18 war. I hope we can find out.

[James C]

liner pads look Swedish not unlike the m18/21

[Greg Pickersgill]

liner pads look Swedish not unlike the m18/21

More than one has thought that, James, but on closer examination none of the similar Swedish pads have the metal grommets which appear here. The liner does look European, generally, but then at a wild stretch you might also imagine it resembles that of the Japanese M30 (Swedish M21 are sometimes passed off for those, to those with more money than sense).

Mind you I still have no better ideas. I hope we hear more from DanishKaiser soon.

[James C]

Thanks Greg ,I'm sure i have seen grommits on Swedish liner pads though ,one thing for sure the liner band is not Swedish ,looks like a strip of meccano from a distance ,I'll stay tuned to see further comments on this interesting helmet

[Danishkaiser]

Thank you for the interest, gentlemen. I have asked the seller for more photographs, however it seems that the Christmas season has kept him/her busy. Meanwhile I have been scouring the internet like a madman, looking for something that would give just the slightest pinpoint as to where this helmet comes from. I am beginning to lean towards it being a private purchase of some sort.

You are right in that the liner could very well look like one that can be found in either a Swedish or Norwegian helmet, however the lead ends with the metal grommets. The only liner system (pre-war) that had metal grommets in that geographical region, was the Danish M/23 helmet. At first glance the metal liner band and chinstrap bales are reminiscent of the ones that were used in the early M/23 helmets; that also had the black paint. However, they do not have a slight edge along the holes, for the leather to be stitched on, that was only included in the later M/23 helmets (post 1928). Nonetheless, the rear slot on the helmet can also be found on M/23 helmets.

I shall do my best to ask the seller once again for more photos of the helmet.

- Dan

[OsiusGaming]

I know this thread is quite old. But I must say, this helmet looks vaguely familiar to the Estonian one in this thread. I'm not saying it's Estonian, but they do seem to have some similarities...
MK 1 English, Estonian re issued steel helmet