Side
OK, fairly obviously
this resembles a typical British Mk 2. To go further, according
to Marcus Cotton it is a Mk2 No 2 D - a helmet made from steel without
the ballistically-resistant properties of a helmet suitable for
combat issue.
The 'D' indicates it is made of mild steel - and it definitely IS magnetic. The grade is indicated by the four holes stamped in each side. (This is nothing to do with the three holes on the rear, of which it has been said!)
Top
There is no rivet!
Or even a hole for one. A surprise to me, at least.
Of course if there was no intention of fitting a standard bolt-in liner it would have been pointless to make a hole.
Chinstrap fixing detail
The
chinstrap is a very rudimentary cloth strip, simply riveted on at
either end. It is adjustable, by a simple tension-type clasp.
The four holes, top view.
The
four holes are on both sides of the helmet, adjacent to the chinstrap
fixing. The identification holes of all these Mk2 No2 helmets are
in the same places, on both sides of the helmet.
Liner 1
Cotton says
" "Examples of the Mk 2 No 2D are known fitted with lining
made from sections of sorbo rubber and with a crudely made chinstrap
which was riveted directly to the helmet body, these helmets appear
to have been issued only to factory civil defence units".
Liner 2
The crown pad
has some almost-illegible lettering that may read 'FRANCIS'. Whether
this is the name of a person or a company we may never know. It
is neatly lettered, and may indeed have been done by stencil or
stamp.
I'm very concerned about not allowing the liner to deteriorate further - any advice on this would be gratefully recieved. At the moment it is obviously discolored and aged, but still has some resilience and is probably saveable in the medium term.