Stoppage Drill Posted 2 December , 2014 Share Posted 2 December , 2014 A couple of photographs published in July 1916 here (see also next post - having a prob putting both into same post) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 2 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 2 December , 2014 . . . . here's the other . . . Typical propaganda stuff, Tommies wearing trophy headgear and playing around with captured pistol. What is the feeling about the spike on the M16 helmet ? Is it a touched up photograph ? What is that tab attached to the breast pocket button of the helmet wearer ? The sergeant can also be seen wearing one in then first photograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T8HANTS Posted 2 December , 2014 Share Posted 2 December , 2014 I suspect it is a piece of army humor, and if you pardon he pun didn't Spike M ( of happy memory ) put a spike on Hun helmets in one or two of his sketches? G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Isn't the thing attached to his breast pocket the bit of kit used to polish brass buttons without getting polish on the tunic (can't remember what they are called). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Looks like similar ones in this photo with the Kaiser. They look a bit odd, out of shape too? Click Edit It says on wiki that the Kaiser is wearing " cloth covers " Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Is it not a german shoulder strap from tunics. Often removed for Intel or a souvenir? TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 3 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Isn't the thing attached to his breast pocket the bit of kit used to polish brass buttons without getting polish on the tunic (can't remember what they are called). Button stick. No, don't think so - button sticks had a slot in them. Is it not a german shoulder strap from tunics. Often removed for Intel or a souvenir? TT Well, that sounds more like it - didn't know they were a popular souvenir. One lives and learns - thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 3 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Looks like similar ones in this photo with the Kaiser. They look a bit odd, out of shape too? Click Edit It says on wiki that the Kaiser is wearing " cloth covers " Mike Thanks Skippy, but I don't think so. Keep 'em coming though, all good stuff. The pic with the Kaiser just shows him wearing a normal infantry picklehaube with cloth cover. Any misshapenness (is that a word ?) would be due to the brasswork of the badge etc under the cloth. Your link does show M1918s and also a group wearing the Turkish style stahlhelm with the missing visor. But no stahlhelms with a spike ! To develop the discussion here; the M1918 had the cut out over the ear to improve hearing and stop reverberation. However it is also widely misrepresented as a "wireless operators helmet". One can see why, even though it is wrong - it is assumed that the cut out in the skirt might give clearance for headphones. However, the M1918 is also sometimes called the "cavalry" stahlhelm, and I really cannot think of any reason why this should be so. Can anybody explain, or take an inspired guess ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 There is a stahlhlem with a drilled hole on the top on display on the website Pickelhaubes.Com (yes, there is such a thing), which hole has provoked a discussion amongst the site's experts. One explains, "lots of vets displayed their captured stahlhelms with an actual pickelhaube spike on top..." Another hazards: "another explanation for the drilled hole could be a lamp or similar". http://www.pickelhaubes.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6192 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 In the singular it's a great name for a race horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 The 'spike' in SD's photos looks as if it has been fashioned from a piece of clay. Is that a German sausage that the sergeant is pushing into the other chap's mouth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 3 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 3 December , 2014 The 'spike' in SD's photos looks as if it has been fashioned from a piece of clay. Is that a German sausage that the sergeant is pushing into the other chap's mouth? Could you put that in the "Samantha" thread on Skindles, please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 Please don't. It might frighten my horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 ... One explains, "lots of vets displayed their captured stahlhelms with an actual pickelhaube spike on top..." I have seen at least one stalhelm that had been very well modified to have pretty much the entire set of picklehaube fittings before - spike, plate, chinstrap mounts, chinstrap, cockades - about the only thing missing was the rear spine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 I think that the item on the breast pocket is, or intended to represent a trench flashlight/torch khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 3 December , 2014 Share Posted 3 December , 2014 IMHO not a torch. Too flat, tunic button through hole. Still convinced a german shoulder strap. TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 4 December , 2014 Share Posted 4 December , 2014 IMHO not a torch. Too flat, tunic button through hole. Still convinced a german shoulder strap. I'm wondering... there was an instruction, Army Form W. 3093 "Collection of information regarding the enemy" issued to British soldiers in late 1915 showing where information could be found on captured soldiers. Various things such as shoulder straps, clothing and equipment (particularly bayonets and inside the cap) are mentioned. Perhaps these faux Germans are showing different examples of the obvious and less obvious sources for other soldiers to practice searching for (and having a bit of fun in the process)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 4 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 December , 2014 I'm wondering... there was an instruction, Army Form W. 3093 "Collection of information regarding the enemy" issued to British soldiers in late 1915 showing where information could be found on captured soldiers. Various things such as shoulder straps, clothing and equipment (particularly bayonets and inside the cap) are mentioned. Perhaps these faux Germans are showing different examples of the obvious and less obvious sources for other soldiers to practice searching for (and having a bit of fun in the process)? Smart thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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