Canadians wore an amazing variety of helmets in the Second War, including, for a short period, old stocks of the Great War MkI Brodie design; however, the most common model worn was the MkII, which employed an improved Brodie steel shell and a lightweight, adjustable canvas chinstrap. The Canadian MkII employed a liner made of fibreboard with rubber spacers and a cruciform-shaped, crown piece and rubberized cloth curtains. Unfortunately, while all MkII liner designs improved protection to the skull from overhead injury, they caused the steel shell to ride higher on the head, resulting in greater lateral exposure.

Although several composite helmets made of cork, leather, rubber, felt and resin binders were developed for Armoured and Reconnaissance regiments, their troopers primarily wore the Royal Armoured Corps MkI steel Helmet in combat. Sherman and Stuart tanks were delivered with the U.S. M6 Crash Helmet, but it was not as popular as the RAC MkI.

Also common in the Italian theatre was the use of the RAC MkI for Canadian infantry of the Support Companies, as it’s tight-to-the-head steel shell allowed easier carriage of machine guns and mortar tubes; however, the helmet’s profile was dangerously similar to that worn by German Falschirmjaegers and could lead to tragic misidentifications. The RAC MkI’s shape of steel shell with purpose-built liners was employed for Dispatch Riders and Paratroopers.

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For the 1943 invasion of Kiska Island in the Aleutians, 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade was issued with the U.S. M1 Helmet, which offered better lateral protection. The M1 was examined by British and Commonwealth forces for possible adoption, but, due to some critical shortcomings, the British instead developed the MkIII.

For the invasion of Normandy, the distinctive MkIII ‘Turtle’ Helmet was worn by 3rd Canadian Infantry Division. The infantry of the follow-on 2nd and 4th Divisions continued to wear the MkII, as did 1st and 5th Divisions in Italy; however, by 1945, some infantrymen of all five divisions could be seen wearing the MkIII.

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Nets came into common use during the invasion of Italy. Their purpose was to soften the helmet’s profile and reduce reflection. One would think that nets were used to mount foliage, but I have found no Canadian pictorial evidence to confirm this. At first, they were worn without any added materials, but for the D-Day landings, the nets were heavily scrimmed with coloured burlap by both the infantry and airborne to further disguise the helmet’s outline. It seems that burlap was found too obvious and strips of matte, dark brown and green tape were substituted. In the late war, it was again common to see unscrimmed nets, suggesting the practice of adding scrim varied between regiments. There may have been three types of nets:
a) unicolour small-mesh;
b) small mesh dyed dark green and brown, and
c) large mesh dyed medium green.

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When it became apparent that the First Field Dressing carried in the right-thigh pocket of the Battledress trousers was inadequate, a large Shell Dressing came into use by combat troops. This bandage was too large for the trousers’ pocket and was carried under, or attached to, the helmet net. In that position, it offe-red the additional advantage of breaking up the helmet’s distinctive profile.

Sources:

Roger V. Lucy, Tin Lids – Canadian Combat Helmets, UpClose 2 (Ottawa: Service Publications, 1997)
Michael A. Dorosh, Canuck Battledress, Weapons and Equipment – Clothing and Equipping the Canadian Soldier 1939-1945 (Missoula, MT: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc., 1995)
Brian L. Davis, British Army Uniforms & Insignia of World War Two (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1983)