The Mk III Helmet is a steel military

combat helmet A combat helmet or battle helmet is a type of helmet. It is a piece of personal armor designed specifically to protect the head during combat. Modern combat helmets are mainly designed to protect from shrapnel and fragments, offer some pro ...

that was first developed for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

in 1941 by the Medical Research Council. First worn in combat by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

troops on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, the Mk III and Mk IV were used alongside the

Brodie helmet The Brodie helmet is a steel combat helmet designed and patented in London in 1915 by Latvian inventor John Leopold Brodie ( lv, Leopolds Janno Braude). A modified form of it became the Helmet, Steel, Mark I in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in t ...

for the remainder of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It is sometimes referred to as the "turtle" helmet by collectors, because of its vague resemblance to a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

shell, as well as the 1944 pattern helmet.

Design

The Mark III helmet was designed to provide better protection for the side of the head than its predecessor. It was a deeper helmet with a smaller brim and provided 38% more protection than the Mark II, particularly at the sides (total area of head protection was increased by 12%, horizontal protection was increased by 15% and from items falling from overhead by 11%). The Mark III helmet was issued primarily to assault troops for the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in June 1944, and a large number of helmets from British stocks were issued to the

3rd Canadian Infantry Division The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from ...

in addition to British units. Small numbers also went to the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

and

4th Canadian Division The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War. During the Second World War the division was reactivated as the 4th Canadian Infant ...

s. All Mark III helmets in Canadian stores were returned to the UK shortly after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The Mk III gradually replaced the Brodie helmet from 1944 onwards. The Mk III was itself replaced after the war by the Mark IV helmet, which it closely resembled. The differences were that the rivets attaching the chinstrap to the helmet were placed much lower down on the shell and the use of a "lift-the-dot" fastener for the liner. These modifications allowed the Mk IV to be utilised for carrying water. In 1959 a new, more padded, liner was introduced into service but the steel helmet body was unchanged. Hence, the title of the helmet (at least in British army stores catalogues) remained the MK IV. In 1985 the nylon fibre Mark 6 helmet was introduced into service to replace the MK IV, although it was some years before the issue was universal.

Production

Although designed in 1941, due to production issues, the helmet was not manufactured until late 1943. It was produced by three manufacturers in the UK: Helmet manufacture commenced in November 1943 until early 1945 when production shifted to the MK IV helmets. Mk III helmets were initially painted with textured khaki green colour, later replaced by a textured dark brown.

Post-war manufactured helmets

The Belgians produced the MkIII helmet post war, Most known examples are dated 1951 and the liner bears a manufacturers name of Sartel , date and size in metric girth printed in white ink. There is no embossing on the crossed straps. The Belgian-produced helmet has no stainless steel parts. The chin strap clips and the rim that are normally Stainless steel on a British helmet are a carbon steel on the Belgian version. The Belgian helmets do not have any manufacturer's stamp or date on the shell. The Belgian helmet is a few millimeters longer, front to back, than its British Counterpart. The liner uses brown, not black leather in its construction. The Helmet has the same country flag decal on the left hand side as the MkII and the M51 (US M1 Euro-clone) helmets that the Belgians also made.

Post-war refurbished helmets

It is possible to find a war-time dated Mk III that was later fitted with the 'lift the dot' liner. These refurbishments generally took place in the 1950s.

References

External links

Mk III helmet
at world-war-helmets.com {{helmets Combat helmets of the United Kingdom World War II military equipment of the United Kingdom British Army equipment Canadian military uniforms Combat helmets of Canada Military equipment introduced from 1940 to 1944