German Steel Helmet

[Wardog]

Hi. Probably a question that has been asked before but i've failed to turn it up.

Was the German steel helmet in use in the front line on 1st July 1916, and if yes- any idea if totaly, and if not, when did it start its use. Regards, Paul.

[Andrew Upton]

Was the German steel helmet in use in the front line on 1st July 1916, and if yes- any idea if totaly, and if not, when did it start its use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stahlhelm

"After lengthy development work, which included testing a selection of German and Allied headgear, the first Stahlhelms were tested in November 1915 at the Kummersdorf Proving Ground and then field tested by the 1st Assault Battalion. Thirty thousand examples were ordered, but it was not approved for general issue until New Year 1916, hence it is most usually referred to as the "Model 1916". In February 1916 it was distributed to troops at Verdun, following which the incidence of serious head injuries fell dramatically."

[Wardog]

Thanks Andrew. Do you happen to know if it was in use on 1st July 1916 on the Somme? I see you link mentions issue to the 8th Company Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 on or around 29th July 1916. Regards, Paul.

[Jack Sheldon]

I am not going to state that no defender had a steel helmet in his head on 1 July 1916. However, I am certain that any such would have been very rare exceptions to the rule. The reason is simple: Verdun had priority on the provision of the first helmets. Their manufacture was a relatively slow process and comprised several stages, because the design and an intention to make sure that there were no weak points, meant that they were not simply pressed out. Add in the fact that the Somme was a quiet place, relatively speaking, until the bombardment began and that all the units and formations which met the first assault had been there for many months and you can see why helmets were not in evidence.

The policy changed of course as increasing quantities were rushed forward and, in many cases, were issued just as the reinforcements moved into the line. However, there are plenty of photos dating to August 1916 showing troops without helmets and I have a feeling that the men of 26th Res Div were still wearing field caps when they fought off attacks between Thiepval and Beaumont Hamel on 3 September 1916.

Jack

[George Armstrong Custer]

I am not going to state that no defender had a steel helmet in his head on 1 July 1916.

Especially if he had been unfortunate enough to be hit by British artillery fire. Sorry Jack, couldn't resist!

Perhaps to redeem myself I can give the following from Haig's Diary, which gives the situation regarding the issue of British steel helmets on the eve of the Somme:

Wednesday 24 May 1916

[....]

Issues of Steel Helmets up to 19th May

1st Army – 156,901

2nd Army- 193,175

3rd Army – 102,040

4th Army 173,117

Total: 625, 233

Still required to complete all units to approved scale: 131,000

George

[Tom W.]

Thanks Andrew. Do you happen to know if it was in use on 1st July 1916 on the Somme? I see you link mentions issue to the 8th Company Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 on or around 29th July 1916. Regards, Paul.

Here's a well-known photo of a Jäger of Jäger- (Sturm-) Bataillon Nr. 3 during the Battle of the Somme. This unit would have had steel helmets on July 1.

[Jack Sheldon]

Tom

It is possible, though not likely, that they did and in any case they were not on the Somme at that time. Their history is not absolutely precise on the point, though the issue of helmets - Kriegsgeschichte des Brandenburgischen Jaeger-Bataillons Nr.3 p 123 - is listed, along with such things as the issue of leather reinforced trousers, lace up boots and puttees, as being part of the transformation of the equipment of the battalion 'during the course of July and the beginning of August' [1916].

On 1 Jul 16 they were still shaking down and training at Laix in Lorraine. They did not move north until 20 Aug 16 and were first deployed against Delville Wood on 31 Aug 16, by which time there were plenty of helmets in evidence on the German side - not that the issue was complete. Crown Prince Rupprecht noted in his diary on 5 Sep 16 that they were about to receive 200,000 helmets, 'which should prove their worth brilliantly'.

Out of interest, where did you find the photo captioned as being a member of Jaeger-Sturm-Bataillon 3? I have been searching for an attribution for years.

Jack

[CROONAERT]

Regarding the original issues of the stahlhelm, here's a photo of a soldier that has baffled me. It is of a soldier who served at some point in Kgl.Bay.Inf.Regt. 'Prinz Franz' Nr.20 who died near Villers-Carbonnel (Somme) on 5th March 1916. He is buried in the soldatenfriedhof at Rancourt. Where would this photo have been taken for it to depict him wearing a steel helmet?

Dave

[bmac]

They were seen by a reliable witness, Maj Philip Neame VC, the Brigade Major of the 169th Brigade, at Gommecourt on 1st July 1916. Used by bombing parties deployed in the counter attacks.

[SiegeGunner]

Regarding the original issues of the stahlhelm, here's a photo of a soldier that has baffled me. It is of a soldier who served at some point in Kgl.Bay.Inf.Regt. 'Prinz Franz' Nr.20 who died near Villers-Carbonnel (Somme) on 5th March 1916. He is buried in the soldatenfriedhof at Rancourt. Where would this photo have been taken for it to depict him wearing a steel helmet?

Is your identification of this chap absolutely watertight, Dave? I've heard of puzzling instances of apparently out-of-time photos that eventually turned out to be of a brother or cousin who served in the same unit at a later date.

Is the timescale/logistics of ordering, manufacture and issue of Stahlhelme documented somewhere? I ask because I'm wondering whether Bavarian units may have received some earlier than others (but not as early as March 1916). There is a series of photographs of officer prisoners being questioned by their German captors at Fromelles on 20 July 1916. Most of these show German officers in peaked caps and soldiers in either soft caps or Pickelhauben, but one, believed to depict two officers also seen in another photograph in the series, has two soldiers in the foreground wearing Stahlhelme.

Incidentally, one of the best misattributions I know of is the photograph on the cover of Michael Hofmann's 2003 'new translation' of Ernst Jünger's "Storm of Steel", which shows German soldiers wearing Stahlhelme and gas masks advancing through billowing clouds of 'something' and is captioned "German soldiers after an enemy gas attack on the Eastern Front, 1915".

[CROONAERT]

Is your identification of this chap absolutely watertight, Dave? I've heard of puzzling instances of apparently out-of-time photos that eventually turned out to be of a brother or cousin who served in the same unit at a later date.

Not 100%, no, (then again, can we ever be in the case of the 'non-famous?) but I'd presume it was a photograph supplied by one of his next of kin (it's from a memorial card) and so should theoretically, (in the case of the image and person, but not necessarily of unit) be correct.

dave

[calibre792x57.y]

Must say that Ihave often wondered about the storm -trooper shown in Tom W's post being attributed to the Battle of the Somme. The question in my mind is whether this is the first battle of the Somme or from the fighting in 1918. Everything about it suggests the latter. In 1916 the M.1915 Bluse shown in the photo was a rare bird. Most Germans in 1916 are seen wearing variations of the 1910 tunic, yet this one appears to be very shabby. The carrying of a shovel, the Kar 98a, the grenades in purpose made sacks, all suggest the 1918 campaign surely? - Puzzled S.W.

[Tom W.]

Out of interest, where did you find the photo captioned as being a member of Jaeger-Sturm-Bataillon 3? I have been searching for an attribution for years.

One of those German Zeitungs posted online that I've been unable to find again. It makes sense, though, since the guy has state-of-the-art Stosstrupp equipment, and it was only August of 1916. The army assault battalions didn't start being formed until September.

The Bundesarchiv comes close, identifying him as a "Sturmtrupp" during the Battle of the Somme, 1916. A lot of other sources say he's a survivor of the war photographed after the Armistice, since he's so young, but most army assault troops were 17 to 25.

[Tom W.]

Must say that Ihave often wondered about the storm -trooper shown in Tom W's post being attributed to the Battle of the Somme. The question in my mind is whether this is the first battle of the Somme or from the fighting in 1918. Everything about it suggests the latter. In 1916 the M.1915 Bluse shown in the photo was a rare bird. Most Germans in 1916 are seen wearing variations of the 1910 tunic, yet this one appears to be very shabby. The carrying of a shovel, the Kar 98a, the grenades in purpose made sacks all suggest the 1918 campaign surely? - Puzzled S.W.

Well, here's a kid from a divisional Sturmabteilung of about 60 men, in a photo taken in the Vosges in November of 1916. He's totally state-of-the-art, too. If the Jäger had fought in the Somme for a few weeks, he'd be looking pretty ratty.

[Dave G]

Here's a well-known photo of a Jäger of Jäger- (Sturm-) Bataillon Nr. 3 during the Battle of the Somme. This unit would have had steel helmets on July 1.

Just a bit of pedantic detail, the first Model 1916 helmets produced were manufactured by Eisenhuttenwerk Thale and issued to the 1st Assault Battalion commanded by Capt. Rohr for field testing in December, 1915. The very first helmets have a distinctive "square dip" as the visor transitions to the neck apron. The square dip models were prone to stress cracks so the angle was refined to have a more gradual slope in production models, as illustrated by your photograph. 30,000 helmets were apparently delivered at the end of January, 1916 and issued to assault troops in Verdun. This information comes from Ludwig Baer's book The History of the German Steel Helmet 1916-1945, page 25, with a picture of a square dip helmet on page 38. The square dips are rather scarce and coveted by collectors. I have two in my collection. You can google "square dip Model 1916" and find more information on other militaria forums such as German Helmet Walhalla and the Wehrmacht Awards Forum.

Dave

[Tom W.]

Just a bit of pedantic detail, the first Model 1916 helmets produced were manufactured by Eisenhuttenwerk Thale and issued to the 1st Assault Battalion commanded by Capt. Rohr for field testing in December, 1915. The very first helmets have a distinctive "square dip" as the visor transitions to the neck apron.

Every photo I've seen of the flamethrower pioneers of Sturmbataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr) shows them with square-dip visors, regardless of the date. This photo was taken in late 1917.

[Dave G]

That's a great picture. The early "trials" helmets were not withdrawn I believe. The original liners as issued for trials were slightly different than the eventual production liners and most examples found today have the later liner system, indicating to me anyway, depot or arsenal refurbishing and reissue. The Rohr boys would have kept their original helmets for the duration I would think. One of the two square dip helmets in my collection is camouflaged and with a production liner, again indicating use throughout the war. Interestingly, neither of my two examples show signs of stress cracks at the dip.

Dave

[Torrey McLean]

Tom

It is possible, though not likely, that they did and in any case they were not on the Somme at that time. Their history is not absolutely precise on the point, though the issue of helmets - Kriegsgeschichte des Brandenburgischen Jaeger-Bataillons Nr.3 p 123 - is listed, along with such things as the issue of leather reinforced trousers, lace up boots and puttees, as being part of the transformation of the equipment of the battalion 'during the course of July and the beginning of August' [1916].

On 1 Jul 16 they were still shaking down and training at Laix in Lorraine. They did not move north until 20 Aug 16 and were first deployed against Delville Wood on 31 Aug 16, by which time there were plenty of helmets in evidence on the German side - not that the issue was complete. Crown Prince Rupprecht noted in his diary on 5 Sep 16 that they were about to receive 200,000 helmets, 'which should prove their worth brilliantly'.

Out of interest, where did you find the photo captioned as being a member of Jaeger-Sturm-Bataillon 3? I have been searching for an attribution for years.

Jack

Hello, Tom - The books that I have read indicate that Jack is quite correct (as he almost always is!) about the German steel helmet not being in general use during the early part of the Battle of the Somme. Juenger in STORM OF STEEL first refers to German use of steel helmets on the Somme in August, as he was preparing to move into the Guillemont sector on 23 August. Additionally, Hamilton in MASTER OF BELLHAVEN first refers to German steel helmets during the fighting at Guillemont on 14 September and then again two days later. In the September 16th reference, Hamilton mentions the protective advantages of the German steel helmet over the British steel helmet. For whatever it's worth, I hope that this information is of interest. Regards, Torrey

[Jack Sheldon]

Leafing through a few possibilities, I see that Gren R 123 and, therefore, by extension, the remainder of 27th Inf Div were, 'wearing steel helmets for the first time' on 30 Jul 16 when they went forward to relieve the Saxons on the Guillemont - Ginchy sector.

Jack

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I did find references to the use of steel helmets in RIR 109 shortly before 1 July, the month of June comes to mind. These were given to trench sentries at exposed locations and I believe and there is a reference by Emil Goedelbecker (Spelling?) indicating that he and his friends fired a rifle at one and put a hole through it to see how effective it was. If these were available on 1 July it was in very limited numbers and as it was hot I suspect most men wore the field caps instead of helmets during the fighting.

Ralph

[Wardog]

Thanks for the replys so far gents. I'ts a question i've thought of asking before but some how felt foolish about. Not helped by the fact that TV documentaries often show the use of helmets when they were not in use, and also reenactment type docu-dramas. Regards, Paul.

[punjab612]

Cast iron dating for this image from Illustrated London News 29th April 1916. The image is also on the IWM film, shot by Geoffrey Malins, of the Actions at St Eloi in 27th March 1916

Peter

[bob lembke]

Just a bit of pedantic detail, the first Model 1916 helmets produced were manufactured by Eisenhuttenwerk Thale and issued to the 1st Assault Battalion commanded by Capt. Rohr for field testing in December, 1915. - - - - - - - - 30,000 helmets were apparently delivered at the end of January, 1916 and issued to assault troops in Verdun.

Dave

Additional pedantry, Hptm. Rohr's storm battalion was the first one formed, but it was not "Nr. 1", it was Sturm=Bataillon Nr. 5 (Rohr), as it was formed under the wing of the 5th Army and served under that Army. Most but not every storm battalion was numbered after its parent army. Kronprinz Wilhelm, commander of 5. Armee, was a patron of the storm unit, as he was of Garde=Reserve=Pionier=Regiment (Flammenwerfer). (My father fought in both units at Verdun, being wounded twice there in FW attacks.)

There are accounts of units being rotated out of the front line at Verdun handing their steel helmets off to the men of the infantry units relieving them. I would guess that the storm units got theirs first and could hang on to them, while perhaps the first line infantry getting them were made to share until more were available. The troops' natural inclination was to hang on to them, you would think.

But my father told me that the troops threw away the heavy head shield that could be attached to the helmet as fast as they were issued, due to the weight. (If only he had the foresight to park them somewhere, for later deployment on e-Bay!) But his unit avoided most heavy gear, even the full boots, for agility on the field of battle, and to be more able to handle the Flammenwerfer. Someone who did outpost duty in the trenches would probably want to hang on to one, or share it between sentries.

Bob Lembke