Helmet Identification Help, please...

[KevinS]

Greetings all!

I have a helmet and I am unsure of its origin or its date of manufacture. It may be of British or Canadian origin, but could just as easily be an early US piece. I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Please forgive my poor photography skills. The only markings I can see on the helmet are the letters "DC" engraved into the inner shell near the top of the dome, and the name "Natan" written on the underside of the rim.

Thank you for any opinions you may have about this helmet.

Kevin

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Kevin, it is a Brit or Canadian helmet, certainly not US. The liner pad from the crown is missing. You might find more markings on the liner? I am sure some of the other guys will be able to tell you more?

Cheers, Ade.

[KevinS]

Hi Kevin, it is a Brit or Canadian helmet, certainly not US. The liner pad from the crown is missing. You might find more markings on the liner? I am sure some of the other guys will be able to tell you more?

Cheers, Ade.

Thanks Ade., good to know!

I've looked at the liner for markings, but haven't pulled too much on it as it seems to be fairly snug and I would hate to damage it. I have seen no markings, though I may have missed them.

Thank you for the info and thanks to anyone else who may know about this helmet.

Kevin

[Historama]

This one looks British (Canadian ones have split rivets holding in the liners on either side). If you can locate an imprinted stamp bearing a few letters and a date (usually near the rim), we can then determine which factory produced it and the period. At the moment it looks like a wartime piece.

[Jim McCauley]

It may very well be a British or Canadian helmet shell. I don't think the liner and chinstrap are of British or Canadian origin.

Could be a WWII Commonwealth issue or a post war reissue.

Is the outside of the shell repainted?

Best regards.

Jim

[byterock]

Indian Army would be my guess? I havn't seen a Canadian one like this.

[KevinS]

Interesting replies, folks. Thank you!

Historama - Try as I might I cannot locate a stamp on the rim. I looked at some pictures on the Internet of them, but nothing of that sort appears on this helmet unless it's hidden by the paint.

Jim - It does appear the outter shell has been repainted, as it's a greenish olive in color while the inside of the shell is of a more brownish hue.

Kevin

[Jim McCauley]

Interesting replies, folks. Thank you!

Jim - It does appear the outter shell has been repainted, as it's a greenish olive in color while the inside of the shell is of a more brownish hue.

Kevin

Hello Kevin,

I'm thinking a post war reissue of a WWII British shell. The liner is familiar to me but I can't remember what country.

I'll look through the Marzetti book this weekend and see if I can find it.

Best regards.

Jim

[KevinS]

Hello Kevin,

I'm thinking a post war reissue of a WWII British shell. The liner is familiar to me but I can't remember what country.

I'll look through the Marzetti book this weekend and see if I can find it.

Best regards.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the info. Thank you for looking in the Marzetti book this weekend! I appreciate your taking the time to do so.

Kevin

[dennisb]

I think this helmet is post war, check that red liner inside, maybe a Belgian helmet ?

[Blindpew]

I can't bare to see you all suffering.

I'm 99.9% certain its a British MKII Shell, post war refurbished by ISRAEL - a very distinctive liner.

Should be a post or two if you search the forums for 'Israeli MKII', or 'Israeli liner'.
Cheers,

[dennisb]

I can't bare to see you all suffering.

I'm 99.9% certain its a British MKII Shell, post war refurbished by ISRAEL - a very distinctive liner.

Should be a post or two if you search the forums for 'Israeli MKII', or 'Israeli liner'.
Cheers,

I said it was postwar, I only didn't know from wich Country

[Jim McCauley]

Hello Kevin,

I've come to the same conclusion as Blindpew. (Although, I wasn't suffering.)

It's an Israeli post-war reissue of a British MKII.

Best regards.

Jim

[Blindpew]

I'm glad no-one was suffering -

Historama, you will now become the main man for tracking these helmets down and finding out as much as possible about them - I've forgotten what the Ink Stamp on the liner should look like, possibly a circle with a lion inside?

The chinstrap is a proper MK II style so it confuses me a bit as I would have expected to see a MKIII or IIII chinstrap on this lid.No matter unless its the chinstraps that are stamped? - can't remember.
(Exterior paint is post-war, evident by the overpaint on the peened rivet holding the liner in.Rest of paint will be wartime).Perhaps someone has added the chinstrap and used the lid for re-enactment or tried to punt it off as wartime. - Crazy thing is the 'Israeli' helmet/liner is rarer than the regular MK IIs, so you have yourself a nice MKII varient Kevin.

Happy hunting guys.

[KevinS]

The wealth of knowledge on these forums never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the time and effort you spent helping me unravel this little mystery. I would have never figured out the origin of my helmet without your help!

Kind Regards,

Kevin