Helmet Steel Airborne Troop

It was in the process of being replaced, with parachute battalions being issued as priority, when the Falklands War occurred.

The P Type featured a non-magnetic manganese steel shell with a rubberized rim and a lining with interior padding that was similar to the German M36/40 design.

An example worn during the Battle of Arnhem can be found on display in Hartenstein Museum, the Netherlands.

This helmet featured a similar shell design, but with a thick vulcanized fiber band rim that clearly distinguishes it from the German model, along with a four-point chinstrap system and a band of sorbo rubber for padding.

The wartime chinstrap had brass ends and rivets: these were manufactured in blackened steel in the 1950s (in line with production of the 1937 Pattern web equipment at that time).

October 1942. Members of the British 1st Airborne Division, training at Netheravon.
A Mk II HSAT worn by Polish General Stanisław Sosabowski .
1944. Cpl John D. "Jock" McLeod of the Australian Parachute Battalion Training Centre , demonstrating a British-pattern HSAT. At earlier stages of the war, Australian paratroopers had used US-made airborne helmets . (Amongst the other equipment visible are an Australian-designed Mk 1 Austen submachine gun and a 32 ft parachute modelled on the British Statichute .)