Well, I am closing a chapter in my life; yesterday I asked to see the Colonel, and formally submitted my resignation from the Canadian Army after 31 years of service to the Crown.
There is a plan in place, as I applied for a Reserve officer position here at the Combat Training Centre and was accepted, so I will 'retire' as a professional soldier from the Canadian Armed Forces 20 Feb 2009, be a civilian for the weekend, and show up for work on the following Monday as a Reserve officer. I won't even have to turn my combat uniform in.
To commemorate my release, I wanted to find an NCO helmet as I was a Senior NCO for 20 years before I took my commission. I was very fortunate and was able to obtain this wonderful Eigetumsstück (privately purchased) Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regt. Nr.92 (Braunschweig) Unteroffizier mit Portepee Pickelhaube.
This is one of those helmets that a guy has to be very careful with, as like an officer's helmet from any rare unit, it is just the Wappen that makes it what it is, and how do you know it is original to the helmet? In this case, when you look at the rest of the photos, you will see a perfect 'ghost' outline of the eagle Wappen and careful examination reveals the indentations in the lacquer are an absolute perfect match to the Wappen; feather-for feather. Additionally, the spike top is removable which is important; the list of units that wore a Preußen style eagle Wappen yet were entitled to wear a Haarbusche is very small; only the early Grenadier Regts, and the other Regts with equally rare Wappen, like IR 93, 94, 95, 96, and 153. At any rate, I am very comfortable with it, and hope you will enjoy the write-up and the photos, which you will find by clicking HERE. Enjoy.
There is a plan in place, as I applied for a Reserve officer position here at the Combat Training Centre and was accepted, so I will 'retire' as a professional soldier from the Canadian Armed Forces 20 Feb 2009, be a civilian for the weekend, and show up for work on the following Monday as a Reserve officer. I won't even have to turn my combat uniform in.
To commemorate my release, I wanted to find an NCO helmet as I was a Senior NCO for 20 years before I took my commission. I was very fortunate and was able to obtain this wonderful Eigetumsstück (privately purchased) Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regt. Nr.92 (Braunschweig) Unteroffizier mit Portepee Pickelhaube.
This is one of those helmets that a guy has to be very careful with, as like an officer's helmet from any rare unit, it is just the Wappen that makes it what it is, and how do you know it is original to the helmet? In this case, when you look at the rest of the photos, you will see a perfect 'ghost' outline of the eagle Wappen and careful examination reveals the indentations in the lacquer are an absolute perfect match to the Wappen; feather-for feather. Additionally, the spike top is removable which is important; the list of units that wore a Preußen style eagle Wappen yet were entitled to wear a Haarbusche is very small; only the early Grenadier Regts, and the other Regts with equally rare Wappen, like IR 93, 94, 95, 96, and 153. At any rate, I am very comfortable with it, and hope you will enjoy the write-up and the photos, which you will find by clicking HERE. Enjoy.
retired last month. All the best! 
