Help with Markings

[Peter B]

Having a heck of a time trying to figure out the markings from this stamp. The "F" I am sure means it has been worked on in a depot and declared serviceable. It's the other stamp that is driving me crazy. I have tried reading it with a flashlight, in all kinds of different light and can't tell. Did some photos and played with the colours so you can see it a bit better.

Could it be GR 17 at the end for Guard regiment 1917? Could first three letters be BJA?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Peter

 

[911car]

Hi Peter,
The first three letters are B.J.A, for Bekleidungs Instandsetzung Amt (clothing repair workshop). This acronym is usually followed by the Armeekorps number in roman characters.
Here, the next letters are difficult to make out, and the marking ends with the number 17.
I remember seeing a similar marking in the Kaisersbunker archives (Tony), ending with Chtz 17, for Chemnitz (a city in Saxony).
The Saxon army corps was # 17 (usually written XVII).

In conclusion, your marking might be B.J.A. Ch.17, and your helmet a Saxon M15 that was repaired in Chemnitz. Does it sport the saxon plate?

And you are correct, "f" stands for feldbrauchbar = field serviceable.

 

[Peter B]

Hi Peter,
The first three letters are B.J.A, for Bekleidungs Instandsetzung Amt (clothing repair workshop). This acronym is usually followed by the Armeekorps number in roman characters.
Here, the next letters are difficult to make out, and the marking ends with the number 17.
I remember seeing a similar marking in the Kaisersbunker archives (Tony), ending with Chtz 17, for Chemnitz (a city in Saxony).
The Saxon army corps was # 17 (usually written XVII).

In conclusion, your marking might be B.J.A. Ch.17, and your helmet a Saxon M15 that was repaired in Chemnitz. Does it sport the saxon plate?

And you are correct, "f" stands for feldbrauchbar = field serviceable.

Yes that might be possible. See my other thread on the helmet: https://www.pickelhaubes.com/xf/threads/guard-m1915-pickelhaube.16687/

The other holes are quite close together so maybe this was originally a Saxon helmet? Strange thing is they have been covered over on the front of the helmet with what almost seems like another layer of leather on the front, making it so the wappen loops of the Guard wappen now on it barely reach through. The holes for the Guard wapen are quite rough, which would not make sense if someone took the time to fix the other holes so they could put "the wrong" wappen on it. If they were doing that you would think they would have made better holes with grommets? It took me a while to notice that there were two other older holes with grommets as you cannot tell they were there form the front.

I thought maybe it was serviced and the stamp was GR 17 for Guard Regiment 1917. So maybe at one time it was a Saxon helmet that was repurposed into a guard helmet later on?

Cheers.

Peter

 

[911car]

My apologies for the nonsense! I had an accident on Wednesday; I am home recovering and clearly, I am not done yet...
Saxony was of course BAXII, not BAXVII! I was misled by Chemnitz, which is in Saxony....

 

[911car]

In conclusion, 17 should rather be the year, and not the AK that normally appears in roman numbers. Then, since a BA or BJA should always be further identified, it might be BJAG (Bekleidungsinstandsetzungamt Garde), which should match the current eagle plate. These elongated rough holes in the shell are still strange: while helmets were commonly revamped during the war, new grommets would be fit...
Below is this marking in a Muetze, from Tony's site:

 

[Peter B]

In conclusion, 17 should rather be the year, and not the AK that normally appears in roman numbers. Then, since a BA or BJA should always be further identified, it might be BJAG (Bekleidungsinstandsetzungamt Garde), which should match the current eagle plate. These elongated rough holes in the shell are still strange: while helmets were commonly revamped during the war, new grommets would be fit...
Below is this marking in a Muetze, from Tony's site:

View attachment 23883

Thanks. Certainly still a bit of a mystery. What I fin strange is how the wappen loops barely reach through the shell, like an extra layer was added to the front.

Regardless I love the helmet.

Cheers.

Peter

Peter