Canadian MkII Steel Helmet: Oh! Canada

This is Canada.


This is the Canadian flag.


This is a Canadian.


I've always been a big fan of Canada and Canadians.

Canada is a very beautiful and huge country with cities both modern and baroque. The diversity of climates, economies, and people make Canada a dynamic and exciting place. The people, and government (aren't those supposed to be the same thing?) are a tolerant and live-and-let-live bunch.

I'm always a little surprised that Canadians aren't nearly as smug as they could be about how much more civil they have made North America than their southern neighbors have...you know, we with all of the guns.

There, then, are my feelings on Canada. Herewith are my observations and opinions on the helmet Canadians used for the first half of the Second World War - the Mk 2.


I'll drink to that! The jaunty tamo'shanter thingy is certainly of questionable ballistic value. Let's get something more suitable on this Canuck's head.


Front view: This lid was acquired with two layers of disruptive netting.

That this MkI, MkII, MkIII design served for so many decades is just about beyond me. The profile of this helmet is unchanged from the First World War. Its relatively shallow design provides little cover for the wearer's temples and none for the crucial brain stem of the soldier. Compared to the family of German helmets of the time, as well as its contemporary the American M1, the MkII begins to look downright ludicrous.

But, that being said, how do you argue with...



  success?


I'm certain that the shiny steel screw fastening the shell to the suspension is a replacement.

Interior view showing the suspension which, with the chinstrap, is a quantum leap forward from the suspension of the Mk1 of the Great War, both in protection to the wearer, and in durability (not to mention ease of manufacture).


The Canadian version of the "king's broad arrow".

This rubber crosspiece found in the crown of Commonwealth helmets is an unusual material that can often be spongy and fresh looking one day, and then, seemingly overnight, harden and crumble. This one is in almost factory-fresh condition.

With the suspension removed.

This chinstrap is the type with the springs in the upper reaches. The fabric is so acidic that it is slowly destroying itself.

The manufacturer's markings on the rim of the shell...

and in the suspension (see comments at bottom of the page).

Apparently the netting has been on this helmet for some time leaving a distinctively mottled pattern on the surface of the painted steel.


Three sewn-in paper labels are affixed to the fabric chinstrap. The actual significance of each is unknown to me:


Does "LG" indicate "size large"?


Is this one an inspectors mark?



The last one is the most intriguing.

One word "THANKS".

Is this, perhaps, a personal message from a defense plant seamstress in Guelph, Hull, Windsor, or Vancouver to any young Canuk soldier serving so very far away from home?  A small tribute from a grateful citizen trying to "do her bit"?

I can only conjecture, but the romantic in me hopes that that is exactly what it is.




As always, thanks Canada.



provenance:
accession number: MOA hmar.214.60.15
Model MkII Canadian helmet.
Acquired 1985, Lansing Michigan.
Purchase price :$10.00
Condition: excellent

Comments

Mannie, Your helmet was made by General Steel Wares (GSW) and the liner was made by Viceroy Manufacturing Company (VMC). That`s a correct combination. Both were made right here in Ontario. As you suspected, the Liner retaining bolt has been replaced with a regular nut/bolt.
As for those tags on the chinstraps.. .ya` got me! I`ve never had a Mk.II that had them (tho` I really like `em! ;) ) Maybe Roger can shed some light...

Thanks for the kind tribute to Canada... you`re welcome to visit
anytime! :) ~MERK

I agree with Merk about the helmet details, an also about the labels, I remember hearing something similar about little labels sewn into the helmets wishing good luck an gratitude from home before, for the guy on
front line to get one of these it must have been must have been heartwarming to know you hadn't been forgotten an your efforts were appreciated, a nice bit of humanity there.

You might also wish to mention that in all Canada manufactured over 1.1 Mk.II helmets.Asside from GSW,the Canadian Lamp
Company (CL/C) of Windsor ON and the Alumin Good Company (AG/C) made Mk.II helmet bodies.
Cheers

Darren.

No I have not seen a tag like that ob\n a chin strap before, but it's the sort of thing which would rapidly dissapear after the helmet had seen any use. Anyway I like Mannie's suggestion it might be a little tribute left by a munitions worker. By the way all Canadian Chinstraps were made by Backstay Standard in Windsor.

The helmet properly is indeed a Mk.II but GSW stamped their bodies Mk.I because it was offically the Body Steel Mk.I to the Helmet Steel Mk.II.
Strictly speaking any map of Canada from WWII should not include

Mk.II helmets were made in Canada between 1940 and 1943
Roger

My helmet museum

I always find it a little jarring to look at the collection of another helmet enthusiast only to see his helmets stacked upon one another, laid out on plywood shelves, or simply stashed away in ruptured cardboard cartons in various damp corners of the basement and garage.

Too often, helmet collections look about as organized as this:
(though there are some mighty tasty lids in this heap)

Well into my helmet collecting years, my wife and I remodeled our previous house and we set aside seventeen running feet of wall space specifically for the mounting and display of 75 helmets. The result was both satisfying, archivaly sound, and pretty darn dramatic. Lots of "oohs and ahhs" when friends came over.

Here's a movie from those days when my house and my waistline were much bigger:



I knew that I would miss that space when we eventually moved four years later. Now we live in Western Maryland, in a very cozy, and much smaller, cottage of a house. I designated one room in the basement as "my studio" and immediately started planning my new helmet display.

In the meantime I purchased large plastic tubs that were both dust and moisture proof for temporary/long term storage of all the helmets.



Inventory lists of each helmet were affixed to the tub lids, if you have to store your collection for any length of time I highly recommend listing the contents of each box, this will really minimize time wasted "rummaging around" for a particular helmet.



With a newly purchased home the priority list read like this:
1. tear out dog-pee'd carpeting
2. dig new drain field
3. screen in porch...etc.

Some time passed before the helmet project cycled up to near the top of the "to do" list, but finally its time came.

As in my previous display I wanted the helmets to appear to "float" against the wall, with the chinstraps fully extended (which can be so visually evocative of the face that had once occupied that space). I used a technique for mounting hats that I had learned during my previous 17 year museum career.

Steel rods bent at a 90 degree angle topped with a wooden ball wrapped with acid free muslin provided the mounting. These mounts were driven into mahogany furring strips screwed to the walls.




Every thing was painted a very neutral light blue, track lighting was installed, helmets were mounted, and below is the result.



And now, some details (click on photos for larger views):

French WWI Adrian, possibly my favorite.









One of the M1s that "followed me home" from the Navy.
Funny; I was a Radioman too.








Two more US Navy M1s. A damage controlman's helmet
(lamp still works) and an Executive Officer lid from
a U.S. Navy destroyer.








A nice M4-A1 flak over a leather USAAF flyers helmet.











Teutonic trio.








WWII Third Infantry Division M1








Early jet helmet , and yes...








that is his autograph! (a future post).









Although somewhat more cramped than my Michigan display, this one makes best use of the limited space and actually lets me display 14 more helmets than I was able to previously. This represents about 75% of my total collection.

I think part of the wisdom of buying such a tiny house was that it should naturally curb my helmet collecting...though there is the chicken coop, hmmmmm.

The plan.

Now that I've gotten back in the helmet blogging groove again, I plan on posting every Monday. I do hope that you continue to look in and I hope you will leave comments from time to time.

Stay tuned. And do check out my Park Ranger blog "My Year of Living Rangerously"

Peoples Republic of China 1982 Paratroopers Composite Helmet

Did he just say "Red" Chinese?

Yes I guess I'm just an old Cold Warrior at heart, I spent most of my life with the commies in the role of the bad guys, now I can buy their product at Walmart. Who'd a thunk it?
This the sort of image I grew up with back in the "duck and cover" days...

and this...

and this...


and this from more recent memory.




Here is a really nice specimen that I received just today from an ebay auction. A very well designed, lightweight, attractive, and very durable (though non-ballistic) jump helmet for PLAAF airborne troops, no doubt jumping into Tibet to dish out a little more repression.

A closer look:

Side view

Interior showing efficient suspension and padding.

A pleasant surprise greeted me when I unscrewed the insignia, this red star is stenciled on the front.

Red star in detail, also showing mounting hole for insignia.


Three snaps on the headband attach a protective flap that is evident in the Marzetti book.


Size adjustment is quite rudimentary, simply adjust the lacing through the holes. I'm assuming that the leather is cowhide, although in a regime where the organs of executed political prisoners are routinely sold for transplantation, one can only hope.

Also of note is the rough peening on all of the interior rivets, the work of a malcontent slave laborer no doubt.

The screw-back for the insignia.

The liner and helmet have a paucity of markings, this beneath the cushion,

and this in the dome of the skull.

The frontal insignia is really quite a knockout.


This splendid helmet is now the favorite in my collection, as is always the case for the most recent of my acquisitions.


And now for the sexier side of the Asia-swallowing Red hordes - 

paratroopers unlike any you've ever seen:  (hello ladeez)

This view shows off the "Y" yoke and liner mounting rivets to good effect. Much like the Israeli paratrooper helmet, this one has no quick release of any sort on the chinstrap, which I've always found curious.

A fine view of that very cool PLA airborne insignia which here appears on the ballistic helmet.

I also suspect that this may be the earlier generation steel helmet of the 1990s, note the chin cup.

From these official PLA photos it appears that the Chinese military is trying to make tactical use of glamor...take a lesson Brazil!

provenance:
Peoples Republic of China
1982 PLAAF paratroopers helmet.
Acquired 2008 (ebay purchase)
Purchase price :$29.99
Original in all respects.
Condition: excellent