5 CMR Helmet

Hi

Am I right in that this would have been an immediate post-ww 1 marking say for perhaps the Occupation Troops?





Not mine but the question came up from the grandson who owns the helmet and a few other choice items. He dropped in on our local show here last wknd.

regards
Darrell

Hi Darrell,

This would be a wartime paint job (likely before July 1916 when the Divisional patches were introduced). The light blue/grey smooth paint job is typical of the early period. Typically cap badges were worn painted on the helmets and then these were replaced by the Div patches on the helmets.

Regards,

Geoff

Darrell wrote:Hi

Am I right in that this would have been an immediate post-ww 1 marking say for perhaps the Occupation Troops?





Not mine but the question came up from the grandson who owns the helmet and a few other choice items. He dropped in on our local show here last wknd.

regards
Darrell

Hi Geoff

Thank you for that. I was thinking in the other direction that is was marked after the tactical markings were no longer required.

I don't have the mans details of service but will be getting the file for the grandson, most likely. It will be interesting to see why it didn't change to the tac markings; perhaps he repatted before that.

regards
Darrell

Hi Darrel,

It is odd how some of the helmets escaped being repainted? Maybe they just weren't followed up open. I mean if you survived wearing the badged variant, I doubt anyone bothered to tell you to correct it to a Div patch.

I collect to Sask Battalions and have a 5th Bn with cap badge painted on and also a one with Div patches. Who knows?

Maybe some guys did get wounded and took their helmets home as souvineers?

Cheers,

Geoff

On November 18, one week after the armistice, the GOC 3rd Div ordered all helmets to be painted grey and to have the unit badges applied with supplied stencils. The colour of the badge is in keeping with the brigade colours found on the formation patch.
Somewhere in my files I have the original document.
Clive

Hello Clive,
I was always under the impression that these grey helmets with unit stencils were post 11/11/18 but my basis for this was only anecdotal.
If you have the original document that really nails it.
Any chance you could post a scan?
Thanks Clive!
Roy

RCA56 wrote:Hello Clive,

Any chance you could post a scan?

It will be a while as all of my docs are in disorder following my recent office renovation and move.
C.

Coming to Edm anytime soon?

RCA56 wrote:Coming to Edm anytime soon?

Not in the foreseeable future.
C

Hi Clive

Thanks for that. I'd be glad to know my gut was right.

Would you say the example I showed is grey? A pic of a 58th Bn helmet on Kaiser Bunker shows similaritites in base colour

I see all four CMR Bns were red for their symbols so the red coloured paint makes sense.


regards
Darrell

Darrell wrote:Hi Clive
Would you say the example I showed is grey?

regards
Darrell

It is as close to French Grey, or what the French Army call 'Bleu d'horizon', as possible. There are some variants to the colour as can be expected when large amounts of paint are sought in a short period of time. There is a helmet shown on another posting (https://www.cdnmilitarycollectors.com/t1383-5th-battalion-helmet-auction-find) that appears to have the correct stenciling but maintains the khaki colour.
The GoC's helmet had the General's 'badge' painted on it and can be seen at the Brome County Historical Society in Brome QC.
Cheers,
Clive

Hi Clive

Yes, it is fair to think that there were differences in what was getting forward.

The 5th Bn Western Cavalry one is null as a comparison since they weren't 3rd Div. It was just Third, right? The other things I've read don't seem to indicate the other Can Divs.

Grey helmet with Battalion badges in Green, Red, and Blue for the Brigades and Arrows, Grenades, and "CE" etc for Div support troops.

regards
Darrell

(LOWER SACKVILLE SHOW 9 SEP 12 )

I have seen a couple of 4 CMRR helmets done in the gray paint, but with the cap badge "sweated" on the front.