canada mkii
Model: MK II
Year: 1940
Manufacturer: Canadian Motor Lamp Co.
Rear emblem: yellow circle
Side emblem: red rectangle with 2 blue vertical stripes
The Canadian MKII model is identical to the English MKII but made entirely in Canada.
In September 1939, after Great Britain declared war on Germany, Canada also decided to enter the conflict, so in early 1940 the Canadian Department of National Defense scheduled the manufacture of the MKII helmet, which was manufactured mainly in various Canadian factories.
The main manufacturers were:
helmet:
Aluminum Goods – AG/C
General Steel Wares–GSW
Canadian Motor Lamp Co – CL/C
chinstrap:
Backstay Standard Co
Garrison:
Backstay Standard Co
Viceroy Manufacturing Co.
The specimen in the collection was manufactured by Canadian Motor Lamp Co., and is dated 1940 with manufacturing batch no. 16.
The interior trim was manufactured byViceroy Manufacturing Co..
The chinstrap is the MKIII model made of elastic fabric without the characteristic springs of the MKII. In 1941, due to the shortage of steel springs, the new MKIII chinstrap was designed.
The helmet is olive-green (olive-drab) color that was used from 1942.
According to the information provided, the helmet comes from the de Normandy area.
The helmet has two painted decals, one on the back and one on the right side. On the side decal, two blue vertical stripes can be distinguished on a red background, which is indicative of theRCE - Royal Canadian Engineers, the back is a yellow dot crossed by a yellow bar, possibly distinctive for gas detector units (https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/helmets/ww2-british-commonwealth-helmet-markings-badges-669121-12/)
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