ArHo Posted December 27, 2019 Posted December 27, 2019 (edited) Good day everyone! We all know that the german army of ww1 sometimes used covers for the steel helmet - but somehow pictures of these are quite hard to find unless you would want to pay a lot of money. You may imagine how happy I was (and still am) am when I recently found in a small group of post cards of a Unteroffizier in a saxon regiment - named and all - a group picture of his company, dated 5-1918, with different types of cover pictured! (at least I hope so but would ask for your expertise) ? I am quite sure that there is a cloth cover on one helmet and - perhaps - the rarely seen "chicken" wire on the other? Looking forward to your feedback! (btw even if you disagree I am really into the expressions on the faces of these very young men - they are on the way into action and they know it...) Best ArHo Edited December 27, 2019 by ArHo
Flyingdutchman Posted December 27, 2019 Posted December 27, 2019 ... we see them sometimes field made, sometimes professionally produced issued examples. First are Austrian troops.
The Prussian Posted December 28, 2019 Posted December 28, 2019 (edited) Yes, interesting photos. The covers are not seen too often. Here we see Fernsprech-Abteilung 208 of the 208th Inf.Div. Note the stripe upon the left lower arm. The 208th was the so-called "Strich-Division". Each unit had their own geometric symbol above the stripe. If it was a unit of the staff, they only wore the single stripe. Edited December 28, 2019 by The Prussian
ArHo Posted December 31, 2019 Author Posted December 31, 2019 (edited) Hey, thanks for your answers and these very interesting image-additions! I had some contact with units of the ID 208 - but the name "Strich-Division" was new to me. Do you have any ideas on the helmet in the first picture - could it be wire? I cant take a better shot unfortunately.. Cheers ArHo Edited December 31, 2019 by ArHo
ArHo Posted December 31, 2019 Author Posted December 31, 2019 (edited) Just a little addition because I find it interesting: Strich-Division means stripe-division. In the summer of 1917 the men of the ID 208 were ordered not to wear any numbers on their epaulets /dont wear epaulets at all (compare the photo above) - the reason was secrecy. Instead they wore from June 1917 - as The Prussian already wrote above - on the lower part of the left sleeve of the tunic a horizontal stripe made from white cloth and above it different geometric symbols. IR 25 had a vertical stripe, IR 185 a slanting cross, RIR 65 a standing cross, FAR 267 a triangle, the foot artillery a square. The staff only wore the horizontal stripe. Source of the additional info: genwiki.genealogy.net Cheers ArHo Edited December 31, 2019 by ArHo
The Prussian Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 Hello! This time wiki was right, but please, don´t ask Wiki... The are so much different views, so I only look in books. This one is from the book "Vom Stahlhelm zum Gefechtshelm" (Baer)
ArHo Posted January 1, 2020 Author Posted January 1, 2020 (edited) Yes sir, you are right - of course! But I was far from all my books at home (I know the Baer but would not have looked there!) and found it all so interesting, that I just switched off the brains and translated from Wiki... mea culpa ? Best and thanks for adding! ArHo Edited January 1, 2020 by ArHo
ArHo Posted January 1, 2020 Author Posted January 1, 2020 (edited) Very nice! Oberst Krause, Kommandeur IR 185 from 5.1915 to 9.1918! Here he is again from the regimental history. Impressive bar... Best Edited January 1, 2020 by ArHo
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