Picture of the day. (12 Viewers)

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

From left to right, the the first three guys are wearing the then new '44 Pattern' helmet, still in use up to the early 1980s !
The chap in the background appears to have the earlier, 'Brodie' style helmet, in use in various forms from around 1915 until 1944 and slightly beyond.
EDIT:- Just had another look, and it appears that the gunner is wearing a late-style Brodie helmet, the design being sort of 'in-between' the '44 Pattern' and the standard Brodie, same as the guy in the background.
 
Last edited:
The first, third and fourth all have the same chin-straps, the gunner's is certainly different.

Could that be an indication of the helmet type?
 
The chin straps on the '44 Pattern' (MkIII) helmets were a different type of webbing, with different adjusting buckles, compared to the earlier Brodie styles, and were in Olive Green (the straps), as opposed to the earlier 'Khaki' brown. Those used in the 1970s - '80s were also slightly elasticated, but I don't know if they were during WW2.
The chap in the background seems to be wearing a late pattern Brodie, as the 'dip' in the rim, and 'longer' rear section are not visible, and this was a similar shape around the 'dome' to the '44 Pattern', but with the protruding rim common to the Brodie.
I do know that all types were bl**dy uncomfortable to wear, and 'rattled around' on the head - I only wore one a couple of times, and, being used to the British Para helmet, with a proper chin and neck harness (now common on all military helmets), I thought they were a waste of time !
 
The early batches of MkIII helmets just came as the steel shell, you were supposed to remove the padding from your MkII and transfer it to the new shell.

Just a couple of nitpicks, No1 the MkIII is often called the 44 pattern which isnt correct the new helmet shell was designed but not adopted pre war to go with the new 37 pattern webbing and the new BD uniform. The MkII was issued instead which was a newly pressed shell or an old MkI shell with the new padding designed for the helmet that became the MkIII. The new shell was officially adopted in 1941 but spare production capacity wasnt available till 1943.

Nitpick number 2 the Brodie was the original Mild Steel design issued in 1915 which went out of use before the end of WWI being replacd by the similar but differently shaped Manganese Steel MkI in 1916.
 
When mounted we were supposed to wear the bloody awful plastic Bone Dome


which no matter what I did never fitted me comfortably and as I was 6ft made me 6ft 2 inches tall inside a tank with 6ft 1 inch headroom. I did what all squaddies do and got hold of a Silvermans catalogue, bought my own headphones and Mic and wore them over a wooly hat knitted by my Mum.
 
Yep, I tried using one of those when I was involved as a Partner in a company using Chieftain, Scorpion, Abbot and '432. Bl**dy awful, so I used a RAF Mk4 helmet or, as you did, headphones and boom mic, over a 'crap hat'.
 
Flamethrower Portable No2 known as the Lifebouy, it was an updated copy of a German WWI design called the Wex. The ring shaped tank carried the fuel and the central ball shaped tank the Nitrogen propellant. The fuel was ignited by using 1 of 10 Cordite blank cartridges fired by a trigger in the rear pistol grip the front grip controlled the flow of fuel.


 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread