Canadian MKII Helmet, WW2

Three Canadian Nurses in their MK II Brodie Helmets

Up for review today is an old helmet that I picked up at a great army surplus store in the San Francisco Bay Area, down in California, back when I was a kid. At the time I bought it, it was sold as a WW2 Canadian helmet. I never took the time to really research the helmet or to pull out the liner and see what exactly I had.......... that is until the other day. After pulling out the liner, I found a 1945 date and the Canadian broad arrow acceptance stamps. So it actually is a "real WW2" Canadian "Brodie" helmet!

Here are the details:

The helmet liner is a size 7 3/4, has a "II" stamp that has been over stamped in white with "MK 1", and has the makers initials of V.M.C., which indicates the liner was made by Viceroy Manufacturing Co. . This company made all of the liners for the Canadian WW2 helmets. The helmet and liner are both marked with the Canadian Broad Arrow: a "C" with the Broad Arrow inside. This Canadian Broad Arrow was discontinued in the late 1940's. The liner is attached to the shell with a single screw and nut and the top pad is the late war "T" type foam pad.

I can not find any manufacturer's markings on the helmet shell, only the Broad Arrow stamp.   I am also not sure about why the liner has a MkI stamped over the imprinted II.  More to research!

The shell is finished in a smooth paint and has no chinstrap. In fact it did not have a chin strap when I originally bought it.

Here are the pictures of my helmet:


It is interesting to note that the nurse in the movie "The English Patient", is a Canadian nurse and she can be seen wearing a helmet just like this one, just like the nurses in the picture at the top of this posting!

Here are a few pictures of some Canadian soldiers during WW2 in their helmets: