Maple Creek
Active member
Here's a photo of a helmet that has been in my father's collection since 1961 - purchased for $60!
It has some issues. The shell is battered and the bolts holding the eagle to the base are not right. My father has always assumed this was a put-together piece because of the mix of officer's and other ranks elments.
Recently, however, I saw a nearly identical helmets on the Regimentals website described as an NCO helmet. Now I'm wondering it this helmet might be perfectly original. Any opinions?
There was a similar helmet sold on the Age of Kings website descriped as an officer candidate helmet. This would be another possibility.
There are no extra holes for the front plate. The top of the helmet has a large hole in the middle and four small bolt holes around it for mounting a spike. The eagle is mounted using two of the four bolt holes. The liner is an officer's type.
Here's the description from Regimentals:
"GUARD CUIRASSIER OR GUARD DU CORPS HELMET
An extremely rare complete NCO’s helmet for the Berlin based Guard Cuirassier Regiment. There were two regiments of the Kaiser’s Guard, the Guard du Corps and the Guard Cuirassier Regiment, both regiments wore the same style of helmet. This example both matching in quality, wear and colour. The helmet has an excellent condition skull with very minor creasing to the bowl. It is the officers style stepped peak, standard enlisted mans eagle with silver crown, oval shaped eagle base, enlisted mans style front plate, officers side cockades and trefoils. The interior liner is of enlisted mans style. The heavy chin scales are all matching, the front plate with its central black Eagle Order is totally undamaged. Minor rubbing to the plating of the undamaged eagle itself. All of the officers weight silver trim to the edge of the helmet excellent and undamaged and intact. The interior leather liner is slightly cracked and dry but good and complete. No extra holes behind the front plate. The helmet is maker marked ‘A.Klucke’ to the lower inner edge of the front peak. The black leather trim that lines the inner back peak is all present with minor abrasions."
My father's helmet:
The Regimentals helmet:
The Age of Kings helmet:
It has some issues. The shell is battered and the bolts holding the eagle to the base are not right. My father has always assumed this was a put-together piece because of the mix of officer's and other ranks elments.
Recently, however, I saw a nearly identical helmets on the Regimentals website described as an NCO helmet. Now I'm wondering it this helmet might be perfectly original. Any opinions?
There was a similar helmet sold on the Age of Kings website descriped as an officer candidate helmet. This would be another possibility.
There are no extra holes for the front plate. The top of the helmet has a large hole in the middle and four small bolt holes around it for mounting a spike. The eagle is mounted using two of the four bolt holes. The liner is an officer's type.
Here's the description from Regimentals:
"GUARD CUIRASSIER OR GUARD DU CORPS HELMET
An extremely rare complete NCO’s helmet for the Berlin based Guard Cuirassier Regiment. There were two regiments of the Kaiser’s Guard, the Guard du Corps and the Guard Cuirassier Regiment, both regiments wore the same style of helmet. This example both matching in quality, wear and colour. The helmet has an excellent condition skull with very minor creasing to the bowl. It is the officers style stepped peak, standard enlisted mans eagle with silver crown, oval shaped eagle base, enlisted mans style front plate, officers side cockades and trefoils. The interior liner is of enlisted mans style. The heavy chin scales are all matching, the front plate with its central black Eagle Order is totally undamaged. Minor rubbing to the plating of the undamaged eagle itself. All of the officers weight silver trim to the edge of the helmet excellent and undamaged and intact. The interior leather liner is slightly cracked and dry but good and complete. No extra holes behind the front plate. The helmet is maker marked ‘A.Klucke’ to the lower inner edge of the front peak. The black leather trim that lines the inner back peak is all present with minor abrasions."
My father's helmet:
The Regimentals helmet:
The Age of Kings helmet: