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#1
24-11-09, 05:40 PM
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What's this helmet?
Following Phil's thread on the FSSF, and looking at this pic in Faces of War.
This is cutlined as a forward observation post, B battery, RCA, near Potenza, Italy 1943. What lid is the guy with the rangefinder wearing? Looks like an American helmet to me. 
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#2
24-11-09, 05:58 PM
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David, the guy is wearing the RAC helmet. It has the same shape as the Para helmet but, with a MkII liner and a regular chin-strap
The helmet,as worn; http://img157.imageshack.us/i/britishrachelmet22kk.jpg/ The inside of the helmet; http://hem.bredband.net/runmat2/helm...c-mkii-int.jpg Jo
__________________
"There truly exists but one perfect order: that of cemeteries. The dead never complain and they enjoy their equality in silence." - “There are things we know that we know,” “There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.” Donald Rumsfeld, before the Iraqi Invasion,2003. Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.
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#3
24-11-09, 05:59 PM
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Helmet
Could be a tank crew steel helmet.
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#4
24-11-09, 05:59 PM
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Don`t know for certain what the helemt is but i know why he is wearing it. The rim of the standard tin helmet would prevent his eyes getting close enough to the viewing lense so he would have to remove his standard helmet to use the viewfinder. A rimless helmet allows the observor to get up close to the instrument. Still happens today on building sites, site engineers that use theodolites or levels either get a special rimless helmet or get a stihl saw out and cut the rim off a standard one.
Guessing but don`t think its American. Could it be a British motorcylists or possibly even a captured Fallschirmjaeger (sorry about the spelling)? Cheers, Dave
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Tha’ can allus tell a Yorkshireman, but tha’ can’t tell ‘im much. 
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#5
24-11-09, 06:07 PM
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The RAC MkII worn by members of the Saskatoon Light Infantry in Italy.
Jo http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/d...hki39aplh10kh3 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/d...hki39aplh10kh3 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/d...hki39aplh10kh3 Some members of the R22R; http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/d...hki39aplh10kh3 Jo
__________________
"There truly exists but one perfect order: that of cemeteries. The dead never complain and they enjoy their equality in silence." - “There are things we know that we know,” “There are known unknowns. That is to say there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know.” Donald Rumsfeld, before the Iraqi Invasion,2003. Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.
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#6
24-11-09, 06:33 PM
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RAC Mk II Helmet
Voltigeaur is spot on, the helmet is a Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) Mk II Steel Helmet. These helmets were designed for British AFV crews such as Shermans and Universal Carriers and although the idea was that the radio headset could be worn under the helmet, this was very difficult to achieve. You do not often see this helmet being worn in an AFV although you do see Carrier crews in Italy wearing them quite a bit. Most of the time the helmets are slung some place convenient on the AFV so that if the crew has to bail out, the helmet may be accessable.
The helmet uses the same metal shell as the Parachutists and Dispatch Riders Helmets although the internal suspension is completely different for each type. As has been pointed out, the RAC Helmet does resemble a German Fallshirmjager's and I have had WWII AFV crews mention that they did not like wearing the helmets as it was common to make the mistake and draw unwanted fire. As an aside, the US M1 also suffered from the problem that at a distance it tended to look like a German M35 Helmet.
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