Please help identify Saxon helmet

[USMC-EOD]

Hi,

I purchased this helmet (and a bunch of others) the other day from the estate of an old family friend.

I normally collect enlisted helmets only, but there were several officers helmets there, so I went ahead and took the plunge...

The wappen appears to be for an enlisted reservist. When I removed the chinscales, I found that the enlisted cockades were larger than the type normally found used with the M91 side posts and that they had a small diameter hole in their centers for use with these types of officer chinscales.

All parts have obviously been on this helmet for a very long time. The owner prior to me had purchased most of his collection in the late 1950s through the early 1970s.

I looked through Rankin, Cowen, Trawick and Bowen's books, and went to Tony's Kaiser Bunker site, but could not find anything similar.

Was this helmet put together erroneously by a previous owner?
-or-
Could this be a Fahnrich, Warrant Officer, or NCO helmet? Perhaps something else along those lines?

Any advice or guidance from the more knowledgeable or seasoned members of this site would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Bryan.

 

[Tony without Kaiser]

Hello Bryan. I think that is a very nice helmet indeed. Curved chinscales would be one of the Saxon Train Abteilung 12 or 19. Yes it could be for a Fahnrich, Warrant Officer, or NCO, but I think with most helmets it’s more important to focus on how it’s put together not so much on what rank the man could’ve been. As you said Jim put his collection together 50+ years ago, and when collectors back then ‘assembled’ helmets they used screwdrivers and pliers. What I do when I get a helmet is first look carefully for signs of manipulation such as prongs that have been re-bent, square brass nuts that have scraping on the sides or the washers that indicate they have been removed etc. The fittings will have left a permanent impression on the lacquer, so behind the Wappen, under spike base etc. you should see no evidence of other modern alterations. Untouched helmets don’t seem to have any of these markings of manipulation.

Then, you have the issue that it is an Eigentums-helm (private purchase). It really does seem that soldiers or families of soldiers could get away with almost anything when it came to a private purchase helmet. Unless it was appropriate for the rank and according to regulations, these private purchase helmets were absolutely not to be worn in Garrison. In Garrison the soldiers wore their issue helmet. So when these Helmets were purchased from a tailor for a soldier by the family or whatever, it really came down to what they could afford.

And lastly there is a chain of custody, and you have a rock solid chan of custody to your friend. I have two or three helmets that have replica M91 chinstraps on them, but I refuse to replace them as they’ve been there for decades and came from people I know. So I don’t care. When they are sold some day, I’ll just mention it and let someone else deal with it.

 

[USMC-EOD]

Thanks Tony.

As you know, I don't really collect officer's helmets normally, but this opportunity to pick up several is spurring a little research on my end.

After I posted this, I started scrolling the internet, and I found Colonel J's excellent site.

It seems it could very well be 100% correct the way it sits as a OYV, Fahnrich, or private purchase piece, especially for a young officer aspirant getting his commission through Germany's Reserve System. If a Fahnrich, the cockades would not be replaced with the officer versions until testing was completed successfully, according to the site.

And per Colonel J's site, you are spot-on concerning the private purchase of helmets. Almost anything goes!

I really appreciate the help with identifying the potential unit! Thank you.

Bryan.