mk3 Turtle helmet

[michelwijnand]

I bought this helmet yesterday for 20 Euros, and it's blue, what would it's branch of service be, police or navy or something?
And what would the value be? The date on the liner says 194 and a vague 4



Cheers,
Michel

[tinlid]

Hi Michel,
It does look like Police blue, but it could be any thing.
The liner is probably 44, have a look on the inside at the rear of the helmet, you might see the date stamped there, like my one.
As for price, having been painted more than likely post war, £20-£40 maybe.
Aaron

[Seigfried]

Hi Michel,
It does look like Police blue, but it could be any thing.
As for price, having been painted more than likely post war,

It does look like a 'police' helmet but the colour looks period to me. However, you normally see the word 'POLICE' stencilled on in white paint across the front. What you paid is probably a fair price for a pretty non-descript helmet.

[Mk1rceme]

Wish I could find a mkIII for that price! Especially with a complete liner. Must be a dime a dozen for these in the UK.

Nice helmet!

[tinlid]

Wish I could find a mkIII for that price! Especially with a complete liner. Must be a dime a dozen for these in the UK.

Nice helmet!

Cor, wish it was, mostly they go for £80-£120, sometimes more.
I take it, it is hard to get hold of in Canada. Having said that, I did pick up a really good one up at Beltring, War & Peace show for £20.
Aaron

[Seigfried]

Cor, wish it was, mostly they go for £80-£120, sometimes more.
I take it, it is hard to get hold of in Canada. Having said that, I did pick up a really good one up at Beltring, War & Peace show for £20.
Aaron

I'm obviously well off the mark with these and I'm amazed that they're worth that amount! These helmets were still being issued in BAOR in the mid-80s and were ten-a-penny, albeit with a modified liner.

[michelwijnand]

helmet

Do you mean the one with the "sock" liner? Or the Mk4, I have both of them, and also a postwar refitted Mk3 with Mk4 liner and Mk5 style oliv chinstrap.

Cheers,
Michel

[Seigfried]

Do you mean the one with the "sock" liner? Or the Mk4, I have both of them, and also a postwar refitted Mk3 with Mk4 liner and Mk5 style oliv chinstrap.

Cheers,
Michel

It was the elasticated 'sock' type with a press stud fitting. You could remove the spider as we called it to use the lid as a bowl. They were strapped to the outside of our '58 patt 'large packs' with two integral webbing straps. I saw my first kevlar helmet in 86-87 during a NI tour.

[shadwell1944]

I'm obviously well off the mark with these and I'm amazed that they're worth that amount! These helmets were still being issued in BAOR in the mid-80s and were ten-a-penny, albeit with a modified liner.

Price does seem to vary quite a bit these days. Good original, complete Mk.3's have routinely gone for £100+ on E-Bay and the like in recent years, average dealer price over the last few years has been £60-80, though has crept up like evreything else. Overall it seems that any wartime manufacture Mk.2 or Mk.3 even in poor condition gets £20-30 as a matter of course. There does seem to be more interest in Mk.3's than there used to be, presumably because of the association with D-Day/Normandy and consequently wartime manufacture Mk.4's are starting to get more expensive as people look for a cheaper collecting option or to round out a collection. Obviously there are still bargains to be had, but like everything else these days they occur less often than they used to. Good, complete, original examples will always be more sought after than the post-war re-used or the stuff pulled out of grandads shed after 60 years of rust and mice.

[Mk1rceme]

Cor, wish it was, mostly they go for £80-£120, sometimes more.
I take it, it is hard to get hold of in Canada. Having said that, I did pick up a really good one up at Beltring, War & Peace show for £20.
Aaron

Actually I have had a good bit of luck finding them here...but most were at semi-crazy prices. I have 6 mkIII's in various Canadian configurations on display right now...one more is on the way. Another one that I have is a former Dutch PTT lid that is painted black. And I think I have four or five shells that have been repainted horrid colors over the years.

They are around but finding them is the challenge.

[sscrooge]

mines more a chocolate brown with a 1944 dated liner, rgds Dave

[tinlid]

Nice one Dave, if you look closely at mine, the inside has never been painted, it's bare metal?
Aaron