Desert Helmet - Help needed

[-Peters-]

Recently bought this helmet, but having no knowledge on these i need help. It is dated 1945 and is supposed to be an original WWII desert camo.

What type of helmet is this, why does it have 3 holes in the 'rim' and is the desert camo real?

[Kiwi Ric]

Hello Bud,

As far as I know.. Its a South African made lid. Alot of these are been passed on as "desert" lids atm

still a nice lid on its own accord tho

[tinlid]

hi, it's a south african made helmet, the holes at the back of the helmet were for a canvas neck protector from the sun. the helmet was probably used during the war in africa, but not the liner. i think these helmets were used by israel after the war, but i'm sure, other members will have more info on this than me.

[ROBB]

There is a seller Salfordpals who has sold loads of these made quite a few quid . Rob


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BRITISH-WW2-S-...3A1%7C294%3A50

[stray_dog]

South African helmet with the 3 distinctive holes for the neck protector, as tinlid said. Greece has also used some of these postwar, too, painted green, with the characteristic aluminium and red brown synthetic liner and leather chinstrap. If I am not mistaken, this helmet's liner is British (CCL=Charles Collett Ltd, London).

Cheers, Giorgos

[-Peters-]

Thanks for the info guys.
The liner is pretty dry and is marked:
CLL
11
1945
7.

I threw about $50 for this lid.. good buy?

[Haplo]

Not that bad.
Payed more for mine.
However, they have the correct south afrikan liner.
To bad this liner has been replaced at some point.
But it's not a bad one.
Maybe you can find a correct one.

[Marc Shaffer]

Could someone throw up a pic of the proper South African liner? Would like to see it. I had one of these but traded it off.

[-Peters-]

Could someone throw up a pic of the proper South African liner? Would like to see it. I had one of these but traded it off.

I would also like to see the real liner type

[ROBB]

Click on my link . Rob

[-Peters-]

Click on my link . Rob

Ah sorry
Is it possible to attach an original liner to the helmet when the top 'screw' looks like this?

[ROBB]

That bit of the screw should be on the inside , just unscrew it Rob

[tubist73]

Your helmet seems to have a fairly standard finish for South African made helmets. The steel rim also appears to be joined at the side, as was common, rather than at the back as with British and Canadian models. The screw you show in the last picture is the early model and your helmet had one of these fitted when it was originally painted - now it has the smaller, later model of screw which fits with the 1945 liner.

I can't see clearly from the pictures but the chin strap may be original to the helmet. South African straps tend to have rougher material and are more yellow than British straps. You might also find the metal parts have a more basic finish.

The prices of these helmets seems to be going up. I sold 2 or 3 a few years ago and now they are reaching double that price.

tubist73

[-Peters-]

Thank you for the information tubist! I will take a closer photo of the straps and put it here for review asap

[-Peters-]

Here are the photos of the straps. My camera can't get the exact color, they're more tanned, like yellowish.