Mk III helmet

The mailman dropped this helmet off at my doorstep yesterday.
Although I own 2 more turtles,this is the first one that is for sure Canadian used.
It has a Canadian liner that was in there from a long time,judging by the dust and dirt.It is a nice and untouched example,although it is a bit battered on the outside I am very pleased with it.The helmet was left behind in the Nijmegen area.
If anyone has info about the service number I will be very greatful.


Cheers Henk-Jan

Great looking helmet! Congrats! Looks like there was a net on the helmet at one time...I can see a ghost of it's presence on the right side.

The service number falls under Active Force MD2 - No.2 District Depot(General Enlistment)

Nice looking lid. Can you tell me if the helmet has been painted over the original factory finish? Looks like it on my monitor.

The helmet has it's original factory finish,I have got another Mk111 and a RAC helmet with the same pale green (with grains of sand) finish.
Why do you think it's been repainted?
Maybe because of the light?

Because the normal factory color of these is a dark brown/green that was almost black in appearance. According to a number of references it was a common practice among Canadian units to refinish the MkIII in a lighter green color. Problem these days is that many collectors reject any MkIII helmets that are not the original dark color as being post war refinished since many of these helmets were used after the war by a large variety of nations and organizations who repainted the helmets in most cases.

Your helmet looks very nice and I was just curious about the color. It could be the flash of the camera that is affecting the true color of the helmet.

For what I know,is that they were (factory) painted green (like mine) until the end of 1943.And after that they were painted brown.
There is also a French website that confirmes this (for what it's worth).
Link: http://world-war-helmets.com/

As far as I know, MkIII's only came out in 1944. Am I mistaken about this?

On my screen the helmet looks like it has a normal earth brown paint finish. Just faded enough to highlight some of the green undertones. I have several MkIII's and they all vary in color...just depends how they were stored over the past 67 years. I have yet to see a factory green painted one yet but it could happen I guess.

mk1rceme wrote:As far as I know, MkIII's only came out in 1944. Am I mistaken about this?

On my screen the helmet looks like it has a normal earth brown paint finish. Just faded enough to highlight some of the green undertones. I have several MkIII's and they all vary in color...just depends how they were stored over the past 67 years. I have yet to see a factory green painted one yet but it could happen I guess.

They came out in 1944,but production started in 1943.When I have the time I will take some pictures of my other (green) helmet,that is clearly dated 1943 in the shell.
The helmet I posted above is green,the brown tones have something to do with the age and storage of the helmet.
I also will ask a commonwealth helmet collector from the Netherlands about the colors that were used.Maybe he knows something more.

My other Mk3 helmet dated 1943


My RAC steel helmet with the same paint on it.Also with some age like the first helmet I posted.

Pictures were made with and without flash.

mk1rceme wrote:As far as I know, MkIII's only came out in 1944. Am I mistaken about this?

On my screen the helmet looks like it has a normal earth brown paint finish. Just faded enough to highlight some of the green undertones. I have several MkIII's and they all vary in color...just depends how they were stored over the past 67 years. I have yet to see a factory green painted one yet but it could happen I guess.

The Mk III helmet was actually supplied from late 1943, although trial samples had been evaluated as early as 1941. There was no wholesale changeover from MK II to Mk III authorised so issue was slow. The only exception was to D-Day assault units of 21st Army Group, who were resupplied with the new helmet.

Rob

Here are a couple of Mk IIIs that I own.

Here is another.

This is a good example of why you have to be cautious with what you see on display in a museum.

Yep, another disappointing display... I guess the main focus of the modern museum is to tell a story and the accuracy of descriptions for the items on display is a distant second, if that.

Unfortunately the museum in this case is not new or modern, nor does it appear to tell a story. Great for 'kit lovers' as it is full of stuff, although for the most part portions of it are incorrectly labeled or used in the wrong context.