FIBER BROTHERS: SAXON TRAIN M95 / PRUSSIAN PIONIER M15

argonne

argonne

Well-known member
Gentlemen,
Lets talk about.... fiber. :wink:
Two spikes, two patterns, two kingdoms but one kind of material, although a little bit different in fiber composition. I purchased the M 95 saxon last summer, and the M15 prussian pionier is my latest one, a family piece with (again!!) provenance, purchased very recently from a german family estate near Wiesbaden. Wearer was great uncle of seller, and his name still is on the liner. Haube also came with a pict of wearer (Johan Klotz, born 01.02.1885), taken on mobilisation day, August 1914, with some other reservist fellows from the german village Lorchhausen, which is the border town between Rheinland-Pfalz and Hessen.

I believe the saxon M 95 shell + visors are made of vulkan fibers. Liner is some thick oil cloth. Even the chinstrap seems to be made with this solid material. Cockades are very thin Ersatz tin plate and are exceptionally light. Fabrication and regimental stamp reads: BA. XII 15 and Tr.12 (1. saxon Train Abteilung, with garrison in Dresden and Bischofswerda).

The prussian M 15 helmet shell is from another kind of fiber...Maybe glassfiber???? I canno´t really make out if both visors are fiber too or leather, but they are pretty hard and solid too. The amazing thing, is the great optical appearance of those fiber helmets!!
Absolutely no shrunkage too!! Helmet has a faint maker mark, but the date 1916 is still legible. Back visor is showing a BA. VIII mark, a RBA 18 stamp (often seen on Hessen Hauben belonging to same Armee Korps) and a perfect matching PB 21 regimental stamp (2. Nassau Pionier Bataillon 21, with garrison in Mainz-Kastel). As you can see, this helmet has been stored for more than 90 years in the same region where it has been first in duty (there only are 9 Kms between Wiesbaden and Mainz).
I will soon post some more picts with some details of both fiber helmets and of the " Johan Klotz mobilisation day" .
Enjoy!

Philippe :salute:







 
Philippe,

May I use your picture of the Saxon marking on the list? It is a bit different–quite a bit. I have all the markings on the list for the Prussian helmet but let me suggest a different interpretation. Army Corps XVIII did not have a BKA in peacetime. After mobilization they quickly formed something called the reserve BKA which had the initials RBA and the Arabic number 18. Prior to that the equipment was generally handled by the BKA of Army Corps VIII. So this is probably a helmet that started out in some sort of warehouse for BKA VIII and then with mobilization was passed down to RBA 18–all legitimate. All normal for PB 21.

VIII Corps in Coblenz seems to have picked up much of the slack in the missing BKAs. They did parts of XVIII Corps, parts of XXI Corps and assorted other units like the NCO school.
Click to expand...

By the Way that guys hat is one of a kind! Have not seen that type before. Well at least not the decoration.
 
Joe,
of course, just feel free to add it to the list!

argonne said:
RBA 18 stamp (often seen on Hessen Hauben belonging to same Armee Korps)
Click to expand...

Yes, I had the same interpretation as yours , but I used the wrong words. I was not meaning "same Armee Korps" but " Reserve Bekleidungsamt of the same Armee Korps".

Philippe :salute:
 
looks like he has a similar pattern on his hat as on the flags... maybe that's his Schutzenfest Hut.

:D Ron
 
What are fiber helmets worth?
I am looking at them and I am not seeing a uniform pricing.

For example what would a 1915 infantry officer s helmet be worth?

What would one of the helmets shown above without the provenance be worth?

Thanks!
 
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