Hoss

Hi David The helmet posted by Thomas is an M16 rare variant not M18 so is the one in my '85 Ludwig Baer book, quote [ It may have been tested in the field for wear with the gas mask, as it gave greater clearance between the forehead and the visor, or worn in trench warfare conditions where the greater frontal angle provided additional projectile deflection] unquote. If anyone has a model 1918 of this helmet I'd love to see it. Regards Eric

Thank you Chris The only part of the stamp I can make out on the cover is Bielefeld they appear to be two patterns of this all steel spade, with folded spot welded ears and one without as the first one shown.The ball,shaft and tang are separate and welded, when finished ground smooth and commonly painted field/grey sometimes black. Regards Eric

Ersatz spade with carrier from my collection. Regards Eric