German Helmets

[Paul K]

Does anybody know what kind of helmet they are referring to in this cut out of an intelligence report that I have supplied? For some reason I thought that there was only one type.

Paul K

Doc1.doc

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Paul,

Without knowing the exact date of the report I can only surmise that the helmet being referred to was the Model 1916 steel helmet and that it was being issued in place of the old pickelhaube still in use. The reports I have read often tell of men who complained about the weight of the new steel helmet as compared to the old leather helmets. Of course the reduction in head wounds was something that eventually changed a few opinions.

Ralph

[fatbob]

I think it is the Stalhelm, I've wriiten a piece on these in another thread butI'll cut and paste it here as it seems a rather apt addition to the thread.

"Just thought I’d add a little piece relating to the introduction of the German Steel Helmet or Stahlhelm.

The helmet was designed by Dr August Bier (1861-1949), a surgeon along with Captain Friedrich Schwerdt, a reserve officer and professor. Bier was the General Surgeon of the Navy but voluntarily transferred to the Western Front as Command Surgeon of the XVIII Corps.

The design was modelled on a medieval helmet and it’s thought that the idea for the design actually originated from Professor Schwerdt’s wife.

Armorer Marx in Berlin formed the model and it was produced in his Eisenhuttewerke in Thale am Harz.

On 30th January 1916, the German Infantry at Verdun received the first issue, some 30,000 helmets. These were made of nickel steel and had been tested at Zossen and rushed to the front.

Bier is better remembered in the medical world for two other reasons. He was probably the first person to perform a successful clinical spinal anaesthesia in 1898; this is a very commonly used procedure today for all manner of operations. Secondly he is known for the Biers Block, in which a limb can be anaesthetised in isolation from the rest of the body using local anaesthetic. (if you have seen the film Paper Mask you will have seen the main character attempt to perform a Biers Block with disastrous results.)"

[Fabiansson]

http://www.worldwar1.com/sfgstal.htm