Canadian Mk II Brown and Green three tone Camo

May 20, 2016

Morning Gents I was lucky enough to secure this Camo painted Mk II from a friend and advanced collector here in Canada some time ago and an interesting helmet it is as Canadian camo painted Mk II helmets are about as rare as hens teeth as most were repainted and used post war.
This particular example is a 1941 dated C.L./C. steel lot batch number 33 it is sporting a 1941 dated VMC liner the owners name and service number have been scratched into the paint on the under side of the shell near the rim should make for a good research project.
I do rather like the patina, age and crazing to the paint on this one even though only two colors were used I myself consider this a three tone camo paint job as the original painted finish was incorporated in to the pattern the green over paint is quite striking and bold and IMO is of the same color used early war time on Canadian and British vehicles and mobile equipment.
I am still on the fence as it were to if this Mk II was used in the ETO and or if the pattern is a camo ( referred to as the Mickey Mouse pattern) that was used early on in country (Britain) During the quite times known as the Phoney War .
I have included an image from Juno Beach were there is a very similar pattern visible on two of the Canadian soldiers helmets of course with out seeing the image in color it is impossible to tell but does make one consider the possibilities.
I would say the image was taken with in the first couple of days of the D-Day invasion.

Regards Mark