Canadian armored crewman helmet of World War Two

Thus begins a series of eleven or twelve posts profiling the various Armored Crewman and tanker helmets in my collection.

I begin with an early one, the name of which I'm not even certain. Paolo Marzetti, in his masterwork Combat Helmets of the World(1996, p. 222) lists this example: Helmet, Crash, Royal Tank Corps, 1936, going on to note that it was manufactured in England. Here, is the translated text of the same helmet from the 1984 edition:

Helmet in fiber that constitutes the development of the models precedence for tank crewmen
and conductors of Bren Carrier. It has a various design, because and of Canadian construction.

This then, is the identical Canadian twin of the British version. I don't know where in Canada this one was manufactured or by which company, nor do I know the Canadian nomenclature of this particular helmet.

Here is where you, dear reader, can assist me. Any pertinent information you may have about this  Canadian helmet I would welcome in the form of comments (see the bottom of this post). Until then you must settle for my meager information and a multitude of photos taken of the one in my collection.

----------------ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE----------------
Mannie
It's called a Helmet Crash Tank Battalion, its a copy of the British
Helmet Crash Royal Tank Regiment. 11,500 were made by Saftey Supply
Co.of Toronto, between 1940 and 1943. They were not, in fact cheap as
they were made of cork and cost $7.50 each to manufacture. They
remained in service until 1966. For more details, Canadian Combat
Helmets. See pages 30 and 31 of my book Tin Lids, It's presntly out of
print, but I am sure if you looked on ebay or ABE books you would find
a copy.
Roger

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Roger, for that timely chunk of intelligence,  ain't the internet grand? The book referenced above is:
Tin Lids: Canadian Combat Helmets by Roger V. Lucy.  Click here for ordering information.

Front view of this pulp-based helmet. This is a neat little number to accomodate the uncomfortable, head-banging ride afforded by the interior of an armored veichicle with all of its sharp edges, hard surfaces and jutting fixtures. Made of a cork shell covered in painted cotton duck with an ample padded bumper on the front, the wearer's noggin would find plenty of protection in this simple, and effective helmet.

Top view shows the six equal gores of fabric covering the pulp shell, the three rubber-bumper armored ventilation holes, and the front brow bumper.

The web suspension is simple and somewhat similar to the US M1. The headphones are supported in a separate flannel faced, leather yoke that fits snugly, though adjustably,

around the wearer's head.


Close-up of headphone through the apature in the yoke. The flannel actually makes this thing relatively comfy.


Both earpieces are held in place with a simple and ingenious gathered "poke sack" style tightened with a drawstring.


The yoke is fastened to the shell with two buttons positioned in the forward quadrant of the shell, allowing the yoke to "float" somewhat independently from the shell while remaining snugly in place on the wearer's head.



Close-ups of the headphone jack. I'm not certain if these are original to the helmet as Sonetronics is a USA rather than a Canadian company.


Is it just me, or does the chinstrap bring to mind certain aspects of ladies lingerie? I'm just asking.


There we go; the good old Canadian version of the King's Broad Arrow, stamped right on the leather sweatband along with...


this piece of information. Unfortunately, there are no makers marks of any sort that I can find. Again readers, any information you can supply would be greatly appreciated.


The helmet shell and yoke indicate two different sizes, I wonder if this was a way to provide more of a custom fit for the wearer?


Hand stitching penetrates materials that even industrial sewing machines aren't able to.

All in all,  this very lightweight helmet is quite comfortable and seems able to provide considerable protection for the armored vehicle crewman. Like all of the "tanker" helmets of the era this one possess no ballistic protection whatsoever and is strictly for crainial protection against the rigorously uncomfortable life of an armored vehicle crewman.


And, like all things Canadian...







I like it!

provenance:
accession number: MOA hmarv1.176.20.33
Helmet - Crash, Tank Battalion
Acquired 1990, Grand Rapids Michigan.
Purchase price :$20.00
Condition: excellent

Sorry about that ad

Hey,

Sorry about that Scientology ad at the bottom of my page. Seems Tom Cruise or Blogger or somebody pulled a fast one on me.

I don't subscribe to that whacky claptrap.


Get your thumb out, and your helmet on!.

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.