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British & Commonwealth WW1 & WW2 Brodie Helmet Maker Stamps


leon21

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

This is my great-grandfather's helmet. He was shrapnelled out of the war and became a postman. 

It's a bit worn but the stamp reads D/F 10.

I wonder if anyone knows what the white stripe signifies? I believe the crow's foot just means it's army/British government property. There may be the very faint remains of a badge on the front as well, but it's hard to tell.

Cheers guys.

 

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Welcome to the forum , helmet made by James Dixon & Sons Ltd of Sheffield, Steel Supplier Thomas

Firth & Sons Ltd of Sheffield and Batch No 10. No idea on the white stripe, looks like it was painted

another colour first? any idea were your Grandfather served during the war.

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Thanks for the reply Leon.

Sadly I don't know much about him at all. I happened to meet somebody who knew him once and only for a few minutes, that's all I have to go on.

The helmet is my great-grandfather's, my grandad kept it hanging up on a piece of string in his shed. Strange to think the only reason I may be sat here is because of this, he wasn't born till the 1920s.

Oddly enough I know my grandad was in Italy in WW2, but don't have his helmet!

It does look like the white stripe might have had a blue outline originally, but it really is hard to say.

Thanks again.

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Nice original rimless shell made around 1915/16 going off the sandy colour it may have seen action 

in the Middle East Campaign, this is only a guess though, the white stripe would have been painted

on post WW1 .

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  • 1 month later...

Question for the smart collectors here. Lately in the USA I have been finding at EST. Sales British brodies in rough shape. I know the us army bought a bunch of these from the British. Do we know what marking they have for us bought brodies. 

Reason I'm asking is because the find I have been find only have steel makers stamps. Making these made by these two companies:

Joseph Sankey & Sons Ltd  Oct 1915 to Oct 1916 ( No Marks Except Steel Suppliers  Mark ).

Bleriot Ltd  May 1916 to Oct 1916 ( No Marks Except Steel Suppliers Mark ).

It seems to be a pattern. My thought was were the us bought helmets only made by these two companies? Do you know is this true? 

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Welcome to the forum Shane, The US bought around 400,000 helmets from the British, most of

the helmets I've seen are stamped by the many different  British manufacturers of WWI,

How bad a condition are these helmets you've seen, is it possible the stamp marks are hidden

under layers of paint or rust?

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Hello Shane, I do not know if there are any records that show how many helmets were ordered from manufactures. A lot of records from this period are simply not around anymore. The US did initially use British made helmets, until we could get our factories going to make out own. Some collectors only collect certain heat stamps, certain makers, dates, etc. I have heard of large caches of helmets from WW1 being sold off years later that were used for civil defense roles that had markings that were similar. What region are you finding them in? Just Curious. 

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The 400,000 helmets mentioned by Benedict Crowell and Bashford Dean is substantially less than the actual total.  This was just the first batch, and records in the US National Archives show numerous further purchases from the British, even continuing into 1919, with the total number being somewhere around 1.2 million.

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Hello guys, can i have questions ? Can you help me with the chinstrap marking ? I have on my Brodie helmet chinstrap with marking 44. I never seen marking like this before. Thanks for your answer.

 

Best regards George

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Welcome to the forum George, Yes I've seen this type of chinstrap before, It's a Mark 2 type chinstrap

the number could be a stores ref number,or quality control tag It's hard to say

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 26. 3. 2022 at 15:48, leon21 said:

Vítejte na fóru Georgi, ano, tento typ podbradníku jsem již viděl, je to podbradník typu Mark 2

to číslo může být ref. číslo obchodu nebo značka kontroly kvality Těžko říct

Thanks for the reply :) I have one more question, do you know what this marking on the African mk2 helmet means ?

thanks for your time.

paint is not original.

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Hi George, not seen a stamp mark on the rim before, could be a heat stamp number or a ID number?

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2 hours ago, leon21 said:

Ahoj Georgi, ještě jsem na ráfku neviděl známku, může to být číslo tepelné známky nebo ID číslo?

I have no idea, it's the first time I've ever seen marking on the rim 🤔 it's really interesting for me 

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Yes it's a strange one for sure, we know the Manufacturer did not mark their helmets, so has

to have been stamped by someone after it was made.

I don't think we will ever know for sure why it was done, still a nice looking helmet.

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17 minutes ago, leon21 said:

Yes it's a strange one for sure, we know the Manufacturer did not mark their helmets, so has

to have been stamped by someone after it was made.

I don't think we will ever know for sure why it was done, still a nice looking helmet.

Thanks for this information, Leon. I appreciate that 😉

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I’ve had this helmet shell for awhile but have never been quite sure what it is, exactly. Rimless, with no sign a rim has ever been fitted. Appears to have originally been painted a light green colour, and later with textured khaki. Has Hadley Steel HS49 heat stamp, but with the H over the S, rather than side-by-side, as usually seen. Also stamped “Trent” - owner’s name? Has later style, larger bales, but these could be replacements. Will be interested to know what you think!5FA22832-FE93-4D57-B714-19F9B8983704.thumb.jpeg.a610be7cabc2cfddc1549f14a3f72b0f.jpeg3620122C-DC0D-4086-B191-E164365FC692.thumb.jpeg.ebc69117ab2ac129d8963b51c6c4ba53.jpegF1C740E4-9C0B-419F-822E-9D4C432F5A38.thumb.jpeg.7fb9f1fa9fc25dc83bf6f71e585486a7.jpegA8BF941F-256A-492B-B6A7-C80C35FFA134.thumb.jpeg.9ac259663049036ed55d240a17bedb52.jpeg 31605A2D-5222-4DD6-8FB7-5BDED9810BF2.thumb.jpeg.b718edab2fc46348893f1eb44cc25bbd.jpeg03AB8C11-E7FB-47AE-8C82-799AABD48E98.thumb.jpeg.df5a33af81dc526c463d3885e2efc363.jpeg

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Welcome to the forum Hallibag, nice original WWI rimless shell made by Hadfields Ltd of Sheffield

1915-1919, the HS marks are correct the H was over the S on these early shells painted light green.

The larger bales are also original, the only thing missing is the liner and chin strap, I agree the stamp

TrenT is most likely the name of the owner who had the helmet.

 

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8 minutes ago, leon21 said:

Welcome to the forum Hallibag, nice original WWI rimless shell made by Hadfields Ltd of Sheffield

Thank you so much, Leon21. So, this is an early (1916?) rimless helmet. Would it have been private purchase, probably by an officer? I can’t imagine the army approving troops stamping their names into issued equipment….

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Yes early 1915, it's unclear when but some time later in 1916 improvements were made, a formed rim

was added to the outer brim and a new liner was added, they were also painted in a non reflective

Kharki-Sand Paint. Some rimless shells were reused painted and fitted with the new liner, looking

at your helmet I would say it was reused. It's not uncommon for soldiers to mark their helmets with

their names, don't think it would have been a private purchase helmet.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,

Hello,

I just joined yesterday because I  inherited a helmet from my dad.  I would like to find out what it actually is and was hoping someone could help me.  Based on the forum information, I think it's a British helmet.

Thank you for your time!!

Dennis (Wiley Walt) 

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Hi Hallibag,  Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it!!  I don't know if this would be the place to ask this but would you have an idea of the value if I were to sell it?

Have a good day!!!

Dennis

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Welcome Dennis, nice looking helmet in good overall condition, I would look on some of the

selling sites to get an idea  of how much they are selling for and in what condition they are in.

I have a Rubery Owen & C0 of Leeds Helmet I bought a good few years ago which cost me over

£100 then.

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