Royal Armoured Corp Tankers Helmet, Helmet, Steel, RAC, Mk 2

[GregN]

Hi all, I'm not sure where to place this so we'll try here in the Militaria Section. Yesterday I picked up this great Royal Armoured Corps Mk.2 Steel (Helmet Steel, No. 4) helmet with a painted MP on the front. It appears that both Canadian and British tankers wore this helmet and that it remained in service with Canadian forces until well after the war. The liner is the lift-the-dot type and dated 1945. The chinstrap is also dated 1945 and is the Mark 2 version with the quick release.

The helmet has been over painted an olive green over the original sand textured dark olive drab. The MP is in white letters 4 cm X 4 cm. The interior is the original dark olive drab. The only mark on the lid is F 09 while the liner is marked BS 1945 and 7 1/2. The chinstrap is also marked but I can only read the 1945 date.

I ‘m tempted to gently clean the newer paint off to reveal the MP underneath but I’ll resist that temptation. It’s bad enough that I cleaned the filth out of it.

Cheers,

Greg