1942 dated C.L/.C. flashed to an AI with shrapnel/bullet strike

[Mark K]

I thought I would share this rather interesting 1942 dated C.L/.C. firstly it has a wonderful patina to the exterior of the helmet body and shows a good amount of wear that is indicative to a field worn example so it does indeed have that been there done that look I like so much in my helmets..

It is sporting a hand painted flash( A I ) on the side of the helmet body this denotes that the Soldiers was at one time appointed to the Instructional Cadre and the wearer at least spent some of his service as an Assistant Instructor and very likely would have taught at a training centres, school or perhaps at a Battalion level in Canada and or abroad in Great Britain... Helmets sporting this particular flash are extremely rare and this is only the third example that I have ever seen and IMO would have been covered over and or the flash removed once the NCO/Officer fulfilled his duty and moved on to another posting...

Of duel interest is the shrapnel strike and or bullet strike on the side of the helmet body ( I am of the opinion it is a shrapnel strike ) which at one time had been covered up on the inside with what I believe would have been medical tape which I can only speculate would have been added to keep out the elements...

The strike does indeed raise some questions and while discussing it with a friend and fellow collector some time back he did bring up an interesting point " was it a result of live fire training that got too lively, or after the Instructor fulfilled his duties was he then reassigned and would have simply covered the helmet with a net before shipping out to the Theatre of Operations as soldiers sent over to England as replacements were placed in Reinforcement Units before being re-assigned to units ". So many unanswered questions on this particular Mk II and one can only speculate as to how the damage happened...

 

Regards Mark K