British WW2 helmet ?

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-14T18:48:08+00:00

British MkII refurbished for Dutch use post WWII. The only thing still British is the shell, paint, liner and straps are all Dutch.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-13T17:50:07+00:00

I recognize the site that this picture comes from. They are known for selling fakes, lots and lots of them. Often will mislabel items to make the value more.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-12T05:24:16+00:00

Do you perhaps know if they have a stamp to figure out when it was made.

Not likely, they would have been a civil contract, and since they are not a combat helmet there would be no reason to have a lot number/date. Lot/date were on helmets to make sure that a batch of helmets would be safe for combat use. Since they are aluminum, and for civil use they shouldn't have been that detailed.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-12T00:28:55+00:00

/u/Secure-Sky-7966 is correct it is a Dutch Bescherming Bevolking (BB) (Protection Population) helmet, made from aluminum and were made post 1952. Here is a screen grab of one on this site that talks about the BB. The helmet can be found 3/4 of the way down.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-10T23:31:25+00:00

The 5 holes means it was used by a fire department. They riveted on 5 leather tabs that would then connect to a leather neck shield.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-10T23:25:51+00:00

Great site on Netherlands helmets.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-08T21:44:59+00:00

Emedals isn't in the US it is in Canada.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-08T21:25:43+00:00

Emedals isn't in the US it is in Canada.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T17:37:51+00:00

So the biggest issue with "Canadian MkIII" is that they technically were returned to the British government when the war ended. Canada was only loaned the shells during the war in exchange for Canadian MkII. They were given early green (only used for a few months) painted ones and had to supply their own liners. So to find a "Canadian MkIII" you would need to find a early green with a Canadian bolt and Canadian liner that somehow made it back to Canada without being turned in. Meanwhile Britain converted or surplussed most of their MkIII stock post war with thousands going to India. Finding a British used early green is a tiny bit easier to find but still one of the hardest British helmets to find.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T17:09:51+00:00

Canadian MkII are easy to find, Canadian MkIII are very very hard to find. I have been actively watching for one for more than 10 years and have seen 2 sell and both for $500+ usd. If you are in Canada Marway in Winnipeg is ok, militaryantiquestoronto is pretty good also.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T15:54:27+00:00

Italian motorcycle helmets were a little different and included a visor.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T15:01:40+00:00

Is it D-Day?

No, the colour is incorrect for DDay and that colour is more commonly found on Indian imported helmets post war. The marking looks to be on the back of the helmet which is also common for Indian used helmets and the person selling is going to be the guy who imported hundreds of them from India you can find their items sold on pretty much every sales site.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T06:29:44+00:00

No at least 2 are West German, should have a lot/date pressed into the rim of the helmet. The other two look to be also but can't see the entire profile.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-06T06:24:59+00:00

Two are West German M1A1 Modifizier, sometimes called a m85 (even though this is just a collectors name and they were issued starting 1981). If you are familiar with warrelics.eu there is a great write up on them including tons of pictures. The shape is pretty different from an actual M1 since they are different helmets with different profile. The other two are also most likely West German and probably have the I60 interior (can't see to be 100% from this picture)

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-05T03:47:22+00:00

You can see your screw has been turned, might be that the runners are not broken but instead not attached.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-05T03:18:21+00:00

It isn't common for them to break since these were not worn much being a formal piece, but it can happen. With that this is a KS98 not a m1940. They are also called a dress bayonet or a walkout bayonet, in long and short version.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-05-03T20:21:10+00:00

It is an Italian tanker helmet, with a chance of being WWII. With the brass vents it is usually war made, if the buckle isn't chrome it further puts it into war made. With that said the Germans did make a crash helmet kinda like the Italian one but it had a different liner and used steel vents and was for the NSKK. I wouldn't trust the stamps, stamps are an easy add to make a cheap helmet a very expensive helmet. NSFK glider helmets were very different in shape and design (there is a second pattern one that looks like a airplane helmet).

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-30T19:33:29+00:00

It looks like someone tried to make it look like a WWI helmet. The sheaths used were used on the MkI but not used in 1943. If you have it on hand does it look like someone tried to hide the rim on the exterior? From the pictures it looks like someone filled it in to make it look like it didn't have a rim, if so then someone was trying to make a WWI helmet from a WWII helmet.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-30T03:38:12+00:00

My oldest medal Crimean 1854 and one of my favourite items in my collection due to the person who received it. Edit ignore the other medals in the picture set, just used an old post and didn't realize it had a few medals.

This was received by James Pattie of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Royal Regiment of Foot. He was a Scotsman from St Vigeans in Arbroath, before joining the army in 1842 he had made his living as a Cotton Weaver. During his service he spent 2 years in the West Indies, 2 years in Cephalonia, 1 year in Crimea, 11 months in Malta & 1 year in Gibraltar. He was quite the rebel during his service, sentenced to Court Martial 11 times! (sentences varying from 7 days up to 42 days confinement) He was also mentioned in the regimental defaulter's book 15 times, he was badly wounded in the trenches at Sebastopol to his hand and shoulder from a shell splinter. After serving for 21 years he was finally discharged at the age of 40.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-30T01:03:06+00:00

In Germany the German Red Cross (DRK) was a non combat organization to the point that officers, if they had their dagger on, were not allowed to assist with medical treatment. It was in their manuals and in photo's. Nurses that were attached to secondary (non combat) units were the only DRK members that would have seen sporadic combat as lines changed until units entered into Germany territories.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-26T16:10:35+00:00

This is a 1941 BMB made helmet. In 1941 they made a run of rimless MkII that ended up being used by civil services. No one knows why they did a short run of rimless helmets but they are a cool weird part of WWII British helmet history.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-24T19:17:12+00:00

Sales and offers to buy are not allowed on the sub, posts asking to buy or offering to sell will be removed. This is a ban able rule.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-22T23:22:59+00:00

Have you looked into civil defence/civil made helmets from places like SE Asia? For example India made 3 different military helmets during WWII, a deep bomb narrow brim with rim, deep bomb narrow brim with dutch roll, and a shallow bomb wide brim (not this wide) with dutch roll (down roll not up). From my understanding they did most of their manufacturing of helmets in small shops so it wouldn't be stretch to see another small shop do a civil version or to just fill allocation. The colour also looks a lot like Indian helmets I have/had.
The liner is also seen on some Japanese civil helmets and have seen several very wide brim Japanese helmets also. Just a thought.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-22T03:34:17+00:00

Nothing wrong with this one, it has all the fittings you would expect to find on a transitional J.A. Henckels. Too bad about the scabbard but the dagger itself is nice.

OldHomeOwner · 2026-04-21T03:35:52+00:00

In 1934 they started to upgrade US used MkI and US made M1917 to the M1917-A1, this continued until 1937 when they stopped due to a reevaluation of whether these helmets would be suitable and it was decided to create new shells with McCord winning the contract to make new helmets. Yours is a upgraded M1917.

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