Spiked German Helmet - Searching for identity of original owner

[JesseP]

Sometime in 1918, my grandfather, an American Army runner who fought in France, sent home a spiked German helmet. My family has been the custodian of it ever since for the past 100+ years, but I am hoping to give it back to the family of the rightful owner. I think it has enough clues on it to find out just who the German Soldier was. But I need some experts to help me out. It has two names written inside it, "Trompeter" and "Hoppe" as well as what appears to be a unit number written in two different places "R.F.L.21". Also, below the second P in Hoppe's name there looks to be what might possibly be a small number 8. In researching the war casualty lists on Ancestry's website, I found only 92 named Trompeter and 4,339 named Hoppe. Someone also pointed out to me it could have been someone who was captured and not killed so that adds to the possibilities but at least they are not very common names and the fact there are two of them should help narrow it down because they were likely in the same unit and one fell before the other perhaps.

 

Any help / discussion would be greatly appreciated in my search for identifying these Soldiers.

 

Thank you!

 

Jesse

[SHJ]

Wow.  I can't help but... that is quite a thing to have.

[George Rayner]

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

 

Isn't 'trompeter' German for trumpeter?

 

George

[corisande]

A subject I know nothing about, but this link is to German Military Abbreviations

 

https://books.google.es/books?id=Ri9JAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq="r+f+l++"+german+regiment&source=bl&ots=4JIMGAWz3Y&sig=ACfU3U1O4rs0xmDeZE7nprdPA4sP3NjlCQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjlhdn9j9PnAhVEx4UKHYviBJAQ6AEwCXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q="r f l " german regiment&f=false

 

But nothing to say what "R F L 21" was !

[charlie2]

2 hours ago, George Rayner said:

Welcome to the forum and good luck.

 

Isn't 'trompeter' German for trumpeter?

 

George

Correct  The only thing that occurs to me for RFL 21 is Reserve Feld Lazarett 21. If there were over 4300 entries in the Verlustlisten, I think  you are going to be very lucky to find a Trompeter Hoppe, good luck.

Charlie

[SHJ]

The pike helmet was long disused by 1918.  I wonder if your ancestor bought it? Hoppe is German for Shop I think.  Mind you, if you compare the o from Trompeter the o in Hoppe it looks more like a u to me so that would be Huppe.  Trompeter Huppe from Reserve Field Hospital 21 prior to 1917...

[JesseP]

A man I've been talking to in Germany who is helping me with some research on that end told me they too believed R.F.L. was likely "Reserve Feld Lazarett". As for Trompeter vs Hoppe it looks to me like two different handwritings. And for Trompeter being Trumpeter I don't think it is likely someone would be writing a specialty in their helmet. I was a tanker on the Army and I would not have written "tanker" on my things as much as I love tanks. Trompeter was/is a Prussian last name, albeit not a very common one. There are a few scenarios why there would be two names, maybe one got killed or captured before the other? 

 

That is interesting to hear about that style having been phased out by 1918. The only evidence I have from my grandfather as to the helmet's origin is a telegram from France dated towards the end of the war sent to a friend telling him he was sending him a helmet and if he can please hold onto it until he gets back. It is very possible that he traded something or bought it from one of his French or British counterparts who had it and had been fighting the war for much longer. Incidentally there is a stamp inside the brim that says "T.IV.1913". Do we know when this style was phased out? Also if he was recovering in a field hospital maybe it was with his things there at the hospital?

 

As for the field hospital unit, it is very possible he could have just been recovering there. Does anyone know where to find the rosters for that time period for Prussian units? I signed up for Ancestry by just see Bavarian unit records on there.

 

Thank you everyone for your help on this.

Edited 15 February , 2020 by JesseP

[JesseP]

Bumping up this old topic for revived discussion.

 

So what we know:

-Soldiers name was Hoppe

-Unit he was assigned to was Reserve Feldlazarett # 21 which was part of the 22nd Res.Div., 1917/18 it came to 50th Inf.Div.

 

Looking for suggestions on how we can find out who Mr. Hoppe was since most Prussian records were destroyed. Am sure out there there is some family member with a letter or some archives with documents.

 

Thank you!

[Guest]

Mate,

 

How a soldier gets these things can be veried.

 

We all find these things, as also a former Cavalryman, I picked up a few things during my service.

 

My GF also has one of these, but not as nice as yours, our badge is grey not gold like yours?

 

Since my GF served with the Light Horse and Camel Corps in Egypt and Palestine, I am unsure how he picked it up?

 

Ours maybe his brothers, who was killed in action in France (3 Sept 1918) in fighting at Mount St Quentin

 

But thats a guess?

 

Good luck

 

S.B

[JesseP]

Bumping for further discussion. Does anyone know how I can find out what town the headquarters for the Prussian unit Reserve-Feldlazarett Nr.21, attached to 22nd Res.Div, was located in? Would be very interested in tracking down a local historian in Germany from that area. Thanks!

Edited 12 June , 2021 by JesseP

[johntaylor]

Hi Jesse, sorry you haven't received any specific information on here, but I think it will clearly be extremely difficult to track down the descendants of the original owner. However that doesn't mean you shouldn't try, and it occurs to me that you might get more help from this website, which seems to bring together a lot of German militaria experts: https://www.feldgrau-forum.com/ Obviously I would counsel caution, as I'm sure you're aware this helmet is a rare, collectable and valuable item. However I think you may be able to find the information you need on there.

 

The only drawback is that it's all in German, but Google Translate does an excellent job and should enable you to post. In addition, I see the welcome page says "English is understood here and you are welcome to ask your questions in English". 

 

Good luck,

 

John

Edited 14 June , 2021 by johntaylor

[AOK4]

It's as good as impossible to find anything more. RFL 21 was raised by Train-Abteilung 4 (Prussian Saxony), but that doesn't necessarily mean all men serving in the unit came from that province.

 

Jan