I paid $65 for this helmet and i was told its from 1944 there is no labels and looks very worn. Does anyone know what campaigns they were used in?
The helmet shell and spider (the liner) mark it out as a Mk IV so post WW2 (generally the 50’s as they started to introduce the Mk IV liner in 1959 and subsequently the whole helmet was renamed the Mk V).
The date is usually stamped in the metal outer but I can not remember where.
The main diffences between the Mk III (WW2) and the Mk IV were the chinstrap rivets were moved lower down and the liner was no longer bolted in (it had spike in the helmet that a clip fitted over).
Mk III
Mk IV
Mk V
Incidently I still had a Mk IV with a MkV liner in 1990 as my issued helmet before I got my Mk VI. Wish I had kept it as I still have two Mk VI and a Mk II at home.
The later type had a “LIFT THE DOT”, which when used, released the liner from the shell, same principle as the American M1, you could then use it for washing, shaving. the one you have is the early type, with the screw fitting, that attached to the liner, in 1941 the Medical Research Council examined the possibility of designing a new helmet around the old liner, Mark 111, compared to the Mark 1, the total area of head protection was increased by 12 per cent, whilst protection against horizontally travelling missiles was increased by 15 per cent and against missiles falling from overhead by 11 per cent, overall the increase of the vulnerable part of the head was 38 per cent hope you don’t mind my little bit.