Canadian Helmets with Paintings...

[Bwetdude]

Hi,

I just found these two helmets recently...

I was wondering what the markings meant...??

The "green" one has no maker's mark inside...

And has a "W" painted in green.

The "black" helmet has : AG/C MK1 R4 1942 inside the rim.

This one has : "D.F. 5" painted in white.

Can anyone shed any light?

Thanks.


*****
Roger Lucy from the Bytown Militaria Collectors Association wrote this reply :

Hello Patrick,

From what I can see, I would say both were used by the Canadian Air raid Precautions Service (ARP) or its post -war successor the Civil Defence.

The unmarked helmet may be part of a batch of rejected General Steelwares helmets that were passed on to the ARP. W indicates a Warden though I have not encountered that in green before (green helmets were worn after the war by Medical Personnel of the CD)

Black helmets were used by Civil Defence Rescue and Engineering personnel. AG/C (Aluminium Goods of Canada) helmets are scarce as only 66,000 were ordered by the RCAF but even so a lot were surplused before the war ended. I suspect this was part of a batch picked up by a scrap dealer and sold to NH&W (who ran the Civil Defence) in the 50s.

regards
Roger Lucy