My Commonwealth WW2 Helmets

[Avitas]

Hello there,

Took some pics of my ww2 Canadian helmets, charming things as they were. The first one I am posting has some hand-painted designs on it of two wings on each side of the helmet (like the old "Flash" DC comic character from the 40's or the Detroit Red Wings wings) and the name HMCS Minas and an anchor painted on. THe HMCS Minas was a Canadian Minesweeper in action from 43-45. This gent must have been on deck most of the time (gunner?) as there were few helmets on board. Any ideas on it?

Thanks,

Pat

[Avitas]

A close-up of the crude wing painting on either side..

[Avitas]

and the inside of the painted "HMCS Minas" helmet. I have heard that these painted ones are a bit rarer and have some artistic value, any thoughts on the subject? I wonder if those wings are meant to be "Flash" wings...

Thanks,

Pat

[Avitas]

I forgot to mention the above pictured Minas helmet it stamped 1940. Again, I might be mistaken on when the ship (HMCS Minas) was actually built and in use, so any help is welcome! Next up I have my ARP helmet, a nice one!

Cheers.

Pat

[Avitas]

and the inside of the Air Raid Patrol helmet, with maker stamp G.S.W., D.P. & H. Does anybody recognize this maker? Any comments on either helmet are great.

Thanks,

Pat

[Avitas]

Hello all,

I just thought I would add that the blue paint on the "Flash" helmet (first one pictured) looks to be done in period and the drawings are crude enough to be done on a ship with minimal supplies by a sailor. No ideas if the wings are meant to resemble the comic book character "The Flash" as the 40's version of this character wore the Doughboy helmet with wings exactly like this one, or is it a military marking of some kind? My only other guess is this Canadian sailor was a diehard Detroit Red Wings fan and drew the symbol on each side, as well as his ww2 minesweeper's name (HMCS Minas of the Royal Canadian Navy).

Cheers and any help is great!

Pat

[Laurence Strong]

Pat

I am not much of a naval expert, however I think there was enough helmets on a ship for all. If you look at period photo's of a ship at action stations you will see that most hands are wearing a helmet.

Nice helmets, interesting one with the paint job

[Kev in Deva]

Pat

I am not much of a naval expert, however I think there was enough helmets on a ship for all. If you look at period photo's of a ship at action stations you will see that most hands are wearing a helmet.

Nice helmets, interesting one with the paint job

Hallo Pat, I have to agree with Larry on this, no ship of any Navy would be at sea with just a few helmets, each sailor (like the army / airforce) would have been issued with his own personel helmet as part of his kit, and the ship would have a supply too, to replace any lost in action or lost overboard.

Kevin in Deva

[Avitas]

Thanks for the help Kevin and Larry

I read somewhere that there were fewer helmets, but I guess that's why you can't believe everything you read! Any help on the paint job one is still greatly appreciated, as if it is indeed meant to be "The Flash" then as a comic collector this helmet will really move up my list of favourite items (it's already pretty high up, but that would be the topper). Cheers and thanks again for the clarification as always Kev and Larry, always great sources of info,

Pat

[Avitas]

After posting on Hun Helmet's Brit doughboy, another question popped up in my head about the "FLash" helmet for someone with some good sources (Michael Johnson?) on enlisted Canadian men in WW2. The initials on the inside of the helmet are "S.R." and they are on two different parts of the helmet, and he served on the HMCS Minas during the war, so I wonder if lists of who sailed on these ships exist? It would just add to the helmet's story (especially about the paint job) to know who the fine Canadian sailor was who owned it.

Here is what I found on the HMCS Minas at u-boat.net:

HMCS Minas (J 165)

Minesweeper of the Bangor class

Navy: The Royal Canadian Navy

Type: Minesweeper

Class: Bangor

Pennant: J 165

Built by: Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd. (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

Ordered: 23 Feb, 1940

Laid down: 18 Oct, 1940

Launched: 22 Jan, 1941

Commissioned: 2 Aug, 1941

End service:

History: Decommissioned 6 October 1945. Recommissioned after 1949 with penant number 189. Scrapped in August 1959.

Noteable events involving Minas include:

21 Nov, 1942

HMCS Timmins (Lt. J.A. Brown, RCNR) and HMCS Minas (Lt. J.C. Barbour) together pick up 42 survivors from the British merchant Empire Sailor south of Newfoundland in position 43.53N, 55.12W.

and from ReadyAyeReady.com

Type: Minesweeper

Class: BANGOR Class (39-40 Programme)

Displacement: 672 tonnes

Length: 180 ft.

Width: 28.5 ft.

Draught: 8.3 ft.

Top Speed: 16

# Officers: 6

# Crew: 77

Weapons: 1-4" Gun, 1-3" Gun, 2-20mm

Pendant (Hull Number): J165

Builder: Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd.. Vancouver. B.C.

Laid Down: 18-Oct-40

Launched: 22-Jan-41

Commissioned: 2-Aug-41

Paid Off: 6-Oct-45

Remarks: After 1949 Recommissioned as Pendant 189.

Many thanks to anyone who can help out on finding the name of this soldier and the story behind the "Flash" or "Detroit Red Wing" paint job and thanks for looking and for all comments,

Cheers,

Pat

[Avitas]

Here is a great pic of the HMCS Minas at wartime, as well as its insignia.

Cheers and thanks for any help,

Pat

[Avitas]

Just a short update on the makers of these helmets (Thanks Tony from Hun Helmet's post for the info).

The HMCS Minas painted example with the initials S.R. (any lists out there, please help!) is stamped with the "C.L./C. 1940" for the Canadian Motorlamp Company. The A.R.P. example is another Canadian manufacturer, General Steel Wares and Aluminum Goods. Still not sure what the "D.P.&H" stamping means though, so any help on that is welcome as well as any info on the fine sailor with the initials "S.R." on the small Canadian minesweeper "HMCS Minas". I just love finding every detail about an item, it's a disease!

But I know I am not alone on this site...

Cheers,

Pat