Hi all

I found this gunners helmet at an antique store. What era is it, and is it original military or a put together.

Thanks

Charlie

Nice I love these helmets the era is WW2 because they were only made during WW2.

With the innner shell painted orange, I would guess it was used post WW2 into Korea and possibly as late as Vietnam. It looks like the helmet has been repainted. The chistrap also looks very new. Possibly a replacement.

 

Not a bad find. Hard to find WW2 era gunners helmets with the chipstrap.

 

I have one (gunners helemt) and have been looking for the leather chinstrap and cup for a while now.

 

Leigh

Any idea as to value?

 

Thanks

Charlie

I paid $100 for one with original paint and markings inside the shell with a good condition liner but I might just have got a good price.

Interesting helmet, this one was aboard a ship without a doubt.

 

It was repainted with the first paint that was available but the inside has some kind of rust-stopping primer ... Nice exemple of "been there" talker helmet.

so far i think it ain't a "gunner" helmet but a socalled "talker helmet" designed to wear speakers underneath

the navy continued using these through the 1980's - 1990's

 

since it doesnt have the original finish, the value would be a little less, probably somewhere around $65 - $75 , the chin strap adds a little value, the leather straps cost about $20 on ebay

 

the ones that sell for $100 or more usually still have the factory blue paint with a cork texture

 

this one has been repainted at least two - three times over the old finish and judging by the condition, the paint doesnt look that old, thats a sign it was probably still in use as recently as the 1990's

 

navy veterans tell me they still had some brand new in the box back in the 80's - 90's

 

I think it's original military used but could have been used anytime from 1943 - 1990's

It looks like a talker helmet used circa the 1960s-1980s.

 

The chinstrap is an original, but was almost certainly added post service to complete it. A lot of times (Vietnam and later) the chinstraps were missing and there were all kinds of rigged straps used, even M1 helmet chinstraps.

The orange colored stuff is "red lead" primer. We stopped using that in the mid'80s because it was lead base. The chin straps were replaced routinely as they did not hold up well in the salt environment. They would come in bundles of 20. The ones I used got repainted about every 6 months to a year, tried to strip them to bare metal every other painting to get the rust out. As with all Navy helmets, unless a vet hands it to you and says this was mine, it has been kicked around the fleet for years, repainted and re strapped many times. Doesn't make it made up, makes it a real Navy helmet.

so far i think it ain't a "gunner" helmet but a socalled "talker helmet" designed to wear speakers underneath

Ditto to what Bolo, Sigsaye and others have posted.

 

It is a USN MK2 talker helmet. Not designed for speakers, but for Sound Powered Phones used by the "talker" who may be assigned to a gun crew, bridge/bridge wing station, signal bridge, lookouts, deck division (anchors, windlass, etc) and any number of deck details when using the sound powered phones during GQ.