knees protection ?

S

stephane_avesnes

New member
Hi, I've got this pair of knees protection for 25 years in my collection, I bought that not far from Reims from a collector who was selling his whole collection. The item looks pretty old and original, the shape, material and buckle, all relate to German or Austrian equipment.
However I 've never really identified them, and still hesitate between 2 options :
- cavalry, or artillery, protection for an animal knees
- troops needing protection for knees, such as pioneer, assault troops, miners etc...
I privilege the second option, first because I already see them on my future pioneer mannequin :) , but also because I don't see how this item can be fixed on a horse leg ... without slipping along the leg at the first step !

does anyone already see this ? Thanks in advance for your help :thumb up:
 
Stephane,
I had a look into my documentation:
No drawings nor photo's of troops wearing this kind of knee protection: Exept for the leather-sewn-on knee pads on the combat trousers of the stormtroopers.
I looked in:
1. "Batailles" Hors serie N°9:Les Sturmtruppen de l'armée allemande.
2.Osprey Men at arms: 392 & 397 Austro-Hongarian troops in WWI
3.Osprey Warrior Series Nr 12 German Stormtrooper 1914-1918

But... I'll keep my eyes open.
I think this is protection for horse legs !
But...imagening being a Stormtrooper myself in those days: I'd like a pair of these !!!
No doubt they used them !

I come to Reims (Fort de la Pompelle OF COURSE) in August. I'm a lucky man to have a wife that is interested in Pickelhauben....
She'll love doing some shopping in Reims and picking up culture.
And of course some good food and drink.... :lol:

Regards,
Khukri
 
HI Khukri, lucky you :) , Reims is nice and that's the main town in Champagne, you know what ? you're going to need such a pair of legs protection since after drinking lots of champagne, you'll end up going back to your hotel.... on your knees :D !
Honestly, I've never seen this kind of item on a horse either, while, as you mention it, assault troops were given trousers including such protection, on a permanent manner, by a piece of leather sewn on the material.
I would also explore the option of sappeurs, pioneers, who were involved in the sub-terrean war, digging gallleries to listen enemy activity and also in order to mine it,
let's wait for more opinions,
I have a very very good friend in Reims, he can show you the neighbourhood and he knows each square centimeter of the battle field, which battle was fought there, when, which units, he's an encyclopedia :eek:
cheers, Steve
 
I never say no :D

Looking forward to visit Reims !
Yes !
The tunnelers & the Pioniere needed this kind of protection.
This book is a must on this toppic !
Peter Barton & Johan Vandewalle BENEATH FLANDERS FIELDS-The underground war.
Good hint ! I have a look later.
Rgds,
Khukri
 
I tend to disagreee that this was for a horse, the fetlock is often covered, but the shape is more for a backward bending joint such as a knee, the fetlock cover is often used on rece hourses to keep them from damaging them selves due to poor control of the joints.
The construction does look to be Austrian to me, or post war Czech
Best
Gus
 
Hi Gus, thanks for your analysis .... I also bend towards the knee .... :lol: that's normal isn't it ? :p to me it's definitely ww1, and at that time in the 80s, we had absolutely no eastern europe stuff coming in, iron curtain was still pretty closed, the guy I bought it from had tons of locally found good French and German ww1 stuff, that's also why I bought it even without having any clue about its use, the price was "very high", maybe the equivalent 50 or 70 euros, a lot at that time .... let's wait for more contribution, maybe Chip knows about this ? Or Johan ?
 
boxes of what?:) The only reason I mentioned Czech is because they were about the only ones who used the same construction as the Austrians,
Gsu
 
Hello Stephane,

Maybe it is not for protection but to keep knee warm?
My great grandfather received during the war a Kniewärmier (Knee Warmers)?? I do not know how these knee warmers looked but definitely something like that existed in the German army.

Have a look at the list of the items received in Soldbuch
http://pommerschespionier.com/index.php/449/1914-1918-equipment/
 
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