Prussian Guard EM M1915 Shako

[RON]

Well, I ended-up buying that very well-preserved 1916 Guard Shako--most probably a War Bond helmet--that was discussed here after the seller kept on reducing its price until he reached an acceptable one given the missing parts... The hunt is still on for a Prussian EM Feldzeichen (see here) and an M15 chinstrap...

 

[poniatowski]

If there was a field badge on it, it wasn't there very long... usually there are two marks from the wires. Glad you were able to agree on a price.

Ron

 

[badener]

Nice catch! A shako is on my must have list.

 

[RON]

Matt: It is quite a nice shell and liner but imagine the frustration until I find the missing parts... ](*,)

Ron: This one was posted several times on eBay. The seller kept on reducing his starting price until I could no longer resist... =P~

 

[edwin]

Nice find and good luck with hunting down the missing parts

Regards,

Edwin

 

[RON]

Happy Poppy Day to all!

Since my Shako has no regimental markings, I'm pretty certain it was an unissued War Bond helmet which doesn;t bother me a bit given its condition!

Could anyone tell me who would've used this Shako then? Which regiments or units?

 

[b.loree]

Congrats Ron....nice hat! The toughest will be tracking down an original Feldzeichen. Lots of repros around.

 

[RON]

Yeah, tell me about it! Unless I land a shako in bad shape with a pristine Feldzeichen :wink:

 

[RON]

Gentlemen, were M15 Prussian Guard EM Shakos entitled to have a white feather plume during parades? :-k

 

[RON]

2 missing parts found, 1 to go... (a good condition M15 leather chinstrap :-" )

(photo-montage)

 

[b.loree]

Hmmm...are you sure that feldzeichen is original Ronny? To be original, they must show hand stitching around the black/coloured centre part. All of the repros have the centre patch glued on. There is a thread about these on the forum. Hope I am wrong on this one and that the stitching is there.

 

[RON]

Hey Brian,
Actually, this is because of the seller's photos which are pretty bad. The feldzeichen is still in transit and the above photo is a homemade montage but this is definitely an original. Besides, the seller is no other than Tony Cowan and in one of his closeups--still a bad photo--you can make out some of the stitching:

 

[RON]

While waiting to find a spare leather M15 chinstrap, I borrowed one of my pickelhaube's for the photo shoot:

 

[b.loree]

Very nice Ron! Congratulations. Only one more piece to go.

 

[asergeant]

I can imagine how satisfying it is to see it completed!
Very nice shako =D>

Arnaud

 

[RON]

Thank you gentlemen.
Finding spare leather M15 chinstraps in good condition (I actually need at least 2) is not going to be easy though...

 

[edwin]

Its great to see that you are restoring your shako to it's former glory :thumb up:

Regards,

Edwin