Souvenir de Belgique

9

911car

Well-known member
After the grenadier in La Marne, this spiked helmet takes us back to the invasion (they said, violation) of Belgium from August 1914. Inside the front visor is written by hand Aeltre 1914. Aeltre (Aalter in Flemish) is a town near Ghent. I do not think that much fighting took place there during the initial march of German troops, but the region was then massively occupied. Our Belgian friends on the forum should know better...

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Halo would be a top piece for me; it's strange how far some pickelhoubes have traveled. I live about 10km away, and I work in Aalter. Could you show me some photos of the pickelaube? I also know there were units in Tielt, Württemberg.
 
Yes no relation with the fight of JR 117 in 1914. In the case of a wounded soldier sent in a Feldlazarett, there is no reason to see such a writing, as the soldier here didn't become prisonner after.
 
That is indeed a fantastic helmet with great patina. The Wappen has a warm golden color which I like a lot. The markings are all you can wish for and it is a Hessen Haube which is in itself very beautiful.

It looks like there's still something else written behind 1914. Can you make something of it?
 
Grabenmaxx said:
That is indeed a fantastic helmet with great patina. The Wappen has a warm golden color which I like a lot. The markings are all you can wish for and it is a Hessen Haube which is in itself very beautiful.

It looks like there's still something else written behind 1914. Can you make something of it?
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Thank you, Grabenmaxx. You are correct, there is something else written next to 1914; probably another number, but it is blurred and I could not make it out yet.
 
911car said:
Not much left of the name tag. I wait for Philippe to tell us who Herr h. was....

View attachment 66226
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Bruno,
I do not think the wearer was a Herr H. because the letter is small. I am quite sure that this is the last letter of the name, and because of its place on the name tag, it is very possible that we have here a very short name (4 or 5 letters maximum, maybe even less).
Unfortunately, there are so much short names in the VL at the JR117 ending with the letter "h"... If we would clearly had the letter before the "h", we would have had more luck, seeking all those short names in the 5/JR117...
Philippe
 
argonne said:
Bruno,
I do not think the wearer was a Herr H. because the letter is small. I am quite sure that this is the last letter of the name, and because of its place on the name tag, it is very possible that we have here a very short name (4 or 5 letters maximum, maybe even less).
Unfortunately, there are so much short names in the VL at the JR117 ending with the letter "h"... If we would clearly had the letter before the "h", we would have had more luck, seeking all those short names in the 5/JR117...
Philippe
Click to expand...
Philippe, I was of course joking...
I know you can do a lot, and am always impressed by your ability to trace soldiers and, more broadly, regiment histories but here... mission impossible.
 
If you ever sell this helmet, I would be very interested because it is a Pickelhaube near where I live, so it is very valuable to me, don't forget it, thanks in advance.
 
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