Rest centres were locations set up by local authorities to process those made homeless by bombing. These centres were normally in school or church halls and offered short term accommodation for those bombed out of their homes, as well as food and access to services to allow alternative housing to be provided, new ration and identity papers to be issued and any other advice and support people might need. These centres were manned by a mix of local authority employees and volunteers, the WVS having a major role to play in providing hot tea and food as well as distributing aid. The workers at these centres were lightly equipped, but some at least were issued with steel helmets to protect them as they went about their duties. Tonight we have a wonderful example of a Zuckerman helmet marked up to a rest centre worker:
This helmet is in the standard light grey paint, put a dark green panel has been painted on the front with the words ‘Rest Centre’ neatly painted on this:
The Zuckerman helmet was specially developed for civilian use and whilst not offering the ballistic protection of a military helmet, it was ideal for protection during air raids. Examples were issued by local authorities and it was also available for purchase by civilians for a few shillings.
The design was officially called the ‘civilian protective helmet’ and was pressed from manganese or mild steel in two shell sizes, medium and large. This example is a medium, as indicated by the ‘M’ stamped into the underside of the shell:
The other stamp on the underside of the rim indicates that it was made by Rubery Owen Company Ltd of Leeds in 1941:
The underside of the helmet shows the liner and the loops for a chin strap:
Chin straps were not supplied with these helmets, but users were advised that they could add their own and examples turn up with a wide variety of different chin straps, some as sophisticated as the standard army ones, others just a piece of ribbon.
The liner itself is made of leather with a tape crown, this ensures that there is a large gap between the top of the liner and the helmet shell itself offering more protection from falling debris. Sadly, despite the excellent condition of the shell, the liner in this helmet has perished considerably over the last eighty years:
The helmets were distributed with the liner unattached and an instruction sheet advising users how to set their helmet up for use:
MINISTRY OF HOME SECURITY
THE CIVILIAN PROTECTIVE HELMET
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSEMBLY AND FITTING
The Civilian Protective Helmet is issued unassembled in three parts – body, lining, and lace.
The steel body is in two sizes and the liner is in six sizes – i.e. three sizes to each size of body, as follows –
The medium body (stamped M) takes linings of 6 and a half, 6 and three quarters and 7.
The large body (stamped L) takes linings of 7 and a quarter, 7 and a half, and 7 and three quarters.
Fig 1 shows the general shape of the helmet. Although the body is symmetrical in shape the line of lacing holes is sloped so that when the lining is assembled to the body the helmet has a front and a back. The back comes down lower to protect the back of the head.
The letters L and M stamped under the rim at the back indicates the size of the helmet body.
How to assemble the Helmet.
(i) Take a lining of the required size and a body of the size to fit the lining – see above. (NB – It is essential that the right size of body be used with each lining size.) It does not matter which part of the lining becomes the front or back; but it is usual to assemble it so that the join in the headband is at the back.
(ii) There are eight pairs of lacing holes in the steel body, corresponding with the eight loops on the lining (A ‘pair’ of holes means two holes close together – about 1 inch apart. There is a space of about 2 inches between two pairs.) A loop should be placed behind and between the two holes which form one pair, and the lace threaded alternately through the lacing holes in the body and the loops on the lining as show in Fig. 2.
When the lacing is finished lace should be visible outside the body of the helmet between each pair of holes, and should be invisible between the two holes which form a pair (see Fig. 1).
(iii) When the lacing has been completed, draw the lace tight and tie it firmly in a bow. It will be most satisfactory to form the tie inside the helmet (ie alongside one of the loops in the lining) and at the back, where loose ends can be tucked away, and not outside the helmet, where the tie will be more liable to come undone.
The lacing can be done with any strong piece of cord or lace of the right thickness if the lace originally provided gets broken.
How to fit the Helmet.
The wearer of the helmet should see that it fits well. The leather band of the lining should fit as closely as possible around the head without being too tight. If it is too loose and the next size smaller is too tight, the lining should be padded with layers of paper or other material inside the leather band.
When the fit around the head has been made right, the helmet should be worn to see whether it comes down far enough, or too far, on the head. This can be adjusted by lengthening or shortening the piece of cord which is threaded through the webbing band at the crown of the head. The brim at the front should be about level with the eyebrows when the helmet is worn in a comfortable position on the head. (Note – the cord must not be loosened so much that the head nearly comes in contact with the steel body. People with high-domed heads may find it advisable to wear the helmet above eyebrow level.)
Chinstrap or Carrrying Loops
No chinstrap is provided because it is not likely to be necessary except in rare circumstances. Nevertheless lugs are provided inside the helmet on either side through which a piece of tape can be threaded if desired, to form either a strap (to be worn either under the chin or at the back of the head) or a carrying loop.
The hat is a shade or two lighter in colour compared to the wartime design, however that may just be down to extensive wear and fading. The design is broadly similar to its earlier incarnation, with circular stitching round the rim to reinforce it:
And loops for vegetation to be attached:
The top vents are covered with brass grilles, however this hat has clearly had a hard life and they are heavily corroded:
One new feature to this pattern of hat is the addition of two fabric tabs with metal grommets in them on the underside of the hat:
These allow a chinstrap to be threaded through if required. The inside of the hat has a stamped size, 7, and both an NSN number and what appears to be an old style stores code:
This suggests that the hat was made in that transitional period in the 1960s when NSN numbers were just starting to be introduced. This boonie hat was clearly used, as the original owner has written his name and regiment inside in permanent marker:
The boonie’s longevity is due to a number of factors. It is comfortable, effective at protecting the wearer’s head from sun and rain and can easily be folded flat to put in a pocket:
It also has that indefinable ‘allyness’ that soldiers are always seeking- the wearer of a battered boonie is automatically a grizzled veteran who has seen much action (regardless of whether he used his boonie for years in the jungle or had just bought one from Silvermans…). These hats are then customised as one ex-regular explains:
The other major upgrade was to the internal harness to make the helmet more comfortable for sustained wear. The earlier MK 6 had a simple drawstring to adjust the fit and was notorious for being uncomfortable:
The new mark added a mesh panel where the helmet fitted to the top of the head:
And padded panels at both front and back:
On this example its former owner has clearly decided that this needed further enhancement and a first field dressing has been rolled up and tucked into the top of the helmet to add further cushioning:
This was a common field modification done by soldiers who could be expected to spend many hours if not days wearing the helmet on operation. Despite the upgraded liner, many soldiers still wished to improve the liner:
This was delivered from the factory in a sealed plastic bag:
A stores label is stuck to the outside of the bag, indicating that like so much modern British military equipment this cover was manufactured in China by the Cooneen Defence Ltd company:
Inside the packet is the MTP cover, laid out the revised shape is visible, designed to fit over the more PASGAT shape of the Mk7. The elastic straps for the scrim are also revised, just having two rings of elastic:
A tab with a press stud is attached to the rear to help secure helmet mounted equipment such as goggles:
Like all the other helmet covers issued over the years, this one is adjusted and secured by a drawstring:
The inside of the cover has a standard label:
Unlike other helmet covers, this one includes a small bag of MTP scrim:
These are wedge shaped pieces of fabric about eighteen inches long that can be threaded through the elastic straps to break up the outline of the helmet:
Although I have used these strips as they came, looking at service issued examples it seems as though it was common to cut the strips of MTP scrim lengthways to make them narrower and give the soldier more of them to thread through the helmet cover, providing a more scrimmed effect:
The glengarry folds flat to allow it to be easily carried in a pocket or under a shoulder strap:
The glengarry is predominantly black in colour, but has a diced band of red, white and blue around the lower half:
Note also the leather sweat band that is sewn around the lower edge. The regiment’s cap badge is attached with a black fabric rosette backing behind it:
Removing the badge there is a second set of holes for a pair of cap badge lugs, suggesting that this cap has had a replacement badge at some point in its life:
A pair of black tapes hangs down from the rear of the cap:
A white inspector’s stamp with a /|\ mark is stamped into the interior of the cap:
Sadly this cap has suffered from the moths a little over the years and is rather tatty now. During World War Two and earlier it was traditional to wear the glengarry steeply tilted to one side with the cap badge high on the head, after the war it became common practice across all regiments to wear them level on the head:
Here we see Private Danny Hall from Glasgow (right), of the 1st Batt. Royal Scots, saying goodbye to the regiment mascot, three and a half year old Mark Baillie, of Fortingale Street, who they handed over to the replacing regiment, the 2nd Batt. the Coldstream Guards. Receiving the mini soldier is Sergeant Bob Otto from Maidenhead in Belfast, July 1970:
One thing that is very distinct however it that there are no elasticated loops for camouflage to be attached to:
This is quite deliberate as the aim is to be as visible as possible, which scrim or foliage would of course negate. Otherwise the cover is unchanged, with reinforcing patches on either side:
And a white drawstring to pull the cover tight around the helmet:
A label is sewn into the inside giving sizing, washing instructions and stores details for the helmet cover:
Flora said: “This week we’ve been getting tested on everything we would be expected to deal with when we are out there, the examiners have thrown all sorts at us but we’re well prepared to deal with them, the training has been excellent. I’m really excited about Cyprus because although I’ve been adventure training with the Army in Spain and Iceland, this will be my first operational deployment.
The helmet has an upgraded liner that features a mesh top section and padded panels around the head:
The chin strap was also upgraded with a three point suspicion system. The chin straps start at the back of the helmet:
They then run forward to two adjusting straps, one on either side:
A leather chin cup is provided to hold the helmet in place:
This is fastened by passing the end strap through a metal loop and folding the tab back on itself. Two press studs secure it and prevent it coming undone:
Some troops upgraded their helmets by replacing the press studs with a quick release buckle. Other changes made by troops included adding a loop to the rear of the helmet straps to allow it to be secured to body armour with a carabineer.
Just one firm made the Mk 7 helmet, NP Aerospace Ltd who traded as Morgan Advanced Materials. The Daily Mail reported on the introduction of the Mk7 helmet back in 2009:
Whilst designed to make it easier for troops to shoot from a prone position, this was not to be the case in reality and just four years later the same newspaper reported that specialist troops, especially snipers, were having to remove the helmets in combat to make shots: