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Hello all, I'm relatively new to collecting but have recently purchased a few British helmets, one of them being this MK III shell. Information on British helmets seems to be a bit thin on the ground, I have seen many mentions of a book being made by Marcus Cotton but I cant find it anywhere so assume its not finished yet. So being no expert my self I was wondering whether any here had any thoughts or comments on this particular example and indeed the MK III in general. From what I know they were painted both green and brown when issued however the green ones are rarer and due to a long service life many were repainted, does anyone have any thoughts on the paint on this? I have also read that the rear seam being flat shows that it was made by Briggs Motor Bodies, Is this true as due to the paint I cannot see any makers marks? And finally what ways does anyone recommend or use for displaying helmets? Any response will be greatly appreciated, best regards, Jack

Picked these up today at an antiques fair today, they are the British war medal & the victory medal , both named to the same man. Both in nice condition , ribbons didn't fair as well but I have folded them to hide most of the fraying & grime. PTE. P. MCRAE. . RAMC.

All of the Mk.II Police helmets that I had and saw in the late 60s were first issue Police, had never been anything else. Most of them were never needed and sold then at the end of the 60s en masse, for 2 shillings a piece, they were all mint, minus a few storage marks. Try to avoid scratches to the paintwork of your helmets, even inside. Paintwork is always the most vulnerable and probably the most decisive and valuable part of a helmet (at least with German helmets), and loses enough substance anyway through time.

I've read that these helmets were issued to the police as part of the civil defence structure in preparation for the Nuclear Threat during the 50s and 60s.

Thanks Jack, yes you are correct about maker and date interesting helmet.

Glad you like it, It is marked RO CO and then either PQ or PO its hard to tell but I think its PQ. Followed by a small o and then 53 So I believe the translates to Rubery Owen & CO and 1953. I think PQ/O relates to a batch code. However as correct me if I'm wrong. As for the paint it appears it was originally painted a smooth brown before being painted a dark blue for use by the police. This blue seems to be darker than my other example and others I've seen on forums. At some stage it was then over painted an olive green however the reason for this is unknown to me, I think it was unlikely it returned to the army so could of been done whilst in private hands, but this will probably remain a mystery. At some point this green was removed from the outside but remains inside the shell. I find the pattern left on the shell by the removal of the paint rather attractive and that was what drew me to this in the first place. Regards, Jack

Thanks for picture and advice as always, Before ruining my lovely broom and plank I decided to make a proof and concept to make sure everything would actually work. So using a random stick that I whitled long ago and some cardboard I created my very own first helmet stand. Not very pleasing on the eyes but functional none the less, the hole in the top is for the liner spike as one of my MK IVs is without a liner. I aim to make the proper ones on Monday. As to varied heights, personally I think I prefer them all at the same height and as I only have a small collection I don't have to worry about space as of yet. However in the future it is a problem I hope to have. EDIT: Excuse the jagged cut but I did do it with a penknife Thanks again, Jack

Yes they are folded just so as to hide the inperfaction , someone had fired paper staples through them making holes & runs in the material, 3 staples in each for some reason

If you place the helmets at varying heights, overlapping and underlapping, you will save a lot of space. I find normally only 5 helmets fit on a standard shelf.

Here's one of the stands I made Jack for the base I used a coaster.

Hi Jack, welcome to the forum, Leon is our expert on British helmets I'm sure he will be along soon. Paint looks original to me