Bavarian Pikelhaube - Officers or NCO's?

[leigh kitchen]

There's not too much to do with this helmet other than to identify the ranks that wore it, add a blob of solder to the spike, sort out the cockades & side posts & add a set of chin scales.

I bought it a while back as an officers helmet, but I think that it's an NCO's? Infantry rather than dragoons?

Round studs rather than star shaped on the spike base, officers style lining, 1886 style "large" plate.

The front plate has been replaced or at least moved on the helmet front at some long ago time, as there are two sets of holes for the screw fittings, there are impresssions on the leather showng that this plate or one similar has been fitted for a long time.

The helmet plate is gilded, the side posts are a nice tight fit - however the Other Ranks type cockades are fitted under the posts, clamped to the shell of the helmet rather than slipped on over the top, & they are both painted in the Bavarian light blue & silver colours - in situ, by the look of it.

I don't know if the cockades are orignals or repro replacements.

I've presumably got to remove the side posts & replace the cockades with officer or NCO qualty repros in the appropriate colours, add repro chinscales (although obviously, I'd like original fittings), push that little flap of leather back down to cover the small hole in the front of the helmet & give a gentle clean.

The spike unscrews, so I would'nt mind a trichter in order to add an original red plume that I have, if appropriate. I would magine that the odds of getting an original trichter are about zero, although I note that there are repros available.

The two studs on the front visor peak are different sizes, so I suppose that equaling those up would make sense.

Information & suggestions welcome please.

Edited May 27, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

The helmet plate, the perlring. the remains of the liner, the tip of the spike - slight damage in that the tip is holed, & the solder on that actual spike & it's screw in base needs redoing.

Edited May 27, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[joerookery]

Leigh,

I am not sure what to make of this helmet. It appears to me that it was reworked. Originally it was a private purchase helmet for an officer with a pre-1914 wappen. However, I think it has been messed with. I am pretty sure that the studs on the cruciform base have been changed to the wrong ones. And that M91 posts were added. It is just not clear to me. The Bavarians seem to have had a habit of using bayonets spikes with standard chin scales. This one seems to be reversed. if you have an original red bush for an officer that would be rare. I am in need of one myself. I also have a reproduction trichter with the standard thread problems.

VR/Joe

[leigh kitchen]

A very late reply - sorry.

I have a red plume but the stem's been cut off to about 2 or 3 inches in length, I'm waiting for the great day when I can "fit" it to a helmet, having said that it may be a Musician's plume, or a British Royal Hoprse Guards (I don't know how they fit the helmet).

I have a white plume which is a bit ratty in appearance, it has it's full length stem & wing nut at the base, again I'm waiting for something to fit it to - like a "scrap" helmet body with repro trichter etc.

If I start on the basis that this is an officer's helmet & not a Dragoon NCO or OR's, what exactly should I do with this helmet? I'm thinking in terms of a gentle clean up, solder repair the spike & add a pair of repro chinscales or a repro chinstrap & repro cockades.

The problem with the cockades is that the posts are fitted so that they slightly overlap the inner void of the cockades, so to remove them I will have to mess around with bending tabs & removing the very tight fitting posts.

Edited December 26, 2010 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

Reluctant as I am to start bending bits of metal & removing fittings from helmets I ca'nt see that the cockades were fitted by the original wearer of this helmet, so the posts had to be removed in order to take the cockades off.

However the various fittings got on to the helmet, they've obviously been there for decades.

The cruciform spike base appears to "fit" the helmet, albeit it's presumably been off at some time as a circular backing plate is missing, etc - looks like the leather has shrunk "around" the fittings.

With my limited knowledge of these helmets there are round studs as worn by Prussian Dragoons on a cruciform base rather than the star studs I would expect to see on a Bavarian officers helmet.

The cockade are repainted originals? They had been repainted silver & blue whilst they were clamped up against the leather of the helmet under the post fittings.

The one which was fitted under the post on the right side of the helmet is a steel reichskokarde overpainted silver & blue, & the one which was on the left side appears to be of brass plated with a matt silver finish on the reverse, & painted silver & blue on the front, the blue paint looks as if it's applied over the matt silver plating, I do'nt know what if any colours are under the silver paint.

I've cleaned some of the silver & blue paint off of the reichskokarde.

[leigh kitchen]

The wappen's been given a light going over with lemon juice, I'm not inclined to tamper more:

[leigh kitchen]

The wappen has been on the helmet for a very long time by the look of it, albeit there are two sets of holes in the leather.

It's possible that the same plate has been been fitted via both sets of holes, perhaps shifted further up the helmet slightly as the leather shrank.

[leigh kitchen]

The spike needs a few blobs of solder.....