Totenkopf Helmet

[Robin Lumsden]

Here's an Austrian-pattern helmet with Totenkopf. I know these were used by the Freikorps, flamethrower units, tank units, shock troops etc., but this particular pattern of skull is very like that of Brunswick Infantry Regiment 92, and Hussar Regiment 17. The '2' on the back suggests use by the 2nd Company of a battalion. All 3 battalions of IR92 wore the skull between 1914 and 1918.

Does anyone know if IR92 was allowed to use the totenkopf (even unofficially) on its helmets, as a substitute for their totenkopf pickelhaubes when the latter were taken out of use at the front?? I've been on to Ludwig Baer and the German Army Museum re. this, but no luck in getting to the bottom of it.

Here's the helmet.

[Robin Lumsden]

And the back.

[Robin Lumsden]

If IR92 wore the Brunswick totenkopf on the pickelhaube, and on the peaked cap (as below), why not on the helmet??? Various other units are known to have painted their formation badges on the stahlhelm.

[stogieman]

Interesting helmet!

But man, talk about making yourself a target! I cannot say thet this was not used by these units, but I don't think I'd want to be the poor sap trying to peek over a trench line with that mother-huge white skull on my helmet!

[Robin Lumsden]

Rick.

Good point.

Maybe it was the old daredevil 'HERE I AM! COME AND GET ME!' attitude again.

Like von Richthofen painting his plane a nice unobtrusive scarlet!

Cheers.

Robin.

[ROBB]

Hi Robin , that is one hell of a helmet ,it looks blue in the photos ,is that correct ? Also he could have worn a helmet cover whilst on frontline duty to cover the "target" .If I had survived long enough to have exchanged my pickle for a steel helmet I too probably would have put insignia off my old helmet onto my new one .Rob

[Robin Lumsden]

Rob.

It's actually a blueish shade of field-grey.

You could be right about the helmet cover. Death's Heads certainly didn't go out as field-grey came in, as the guy in the middle of the undernoted postcard shows:-

[Bob Lembke]

Robin; The helmet just doesn't seem front-line to me. I've never seen a photo of a front-line soldier wearing anything remotely like it, and it surely looks impractical and dangerous. However, lots of photos of the 1919 "disturbances" show Freikorps and other "right" formations with Totenkopfs and perhaps less frequently swastikas painted on trucks, armored cars, the occasional tank, and I think on some helmets. In the uban posturing or fighting camoflage was not an issue, but identification was, as almost everyone was wearing the same basic gear, including the Stahlhelm.

Bob Lembke

[Tony & Kaiser]

In Ludwig Baer's The History of the German Steel helmet p.77 this helmet is described as "Freikorps Hacketau". Personally, I have no idea. I do know, however, that as a soldier, the only thing I would put on my helmet is mud. Tony

[Mike Dunn]

I will say this--besides a nice camo WWI helmet. If I were to own one, that is the one I would want if original. I think it is more a Freikorps than front line soldier helmet. I seem to remember seeing a photo of one, but heck--forget my name half the time! Mike

[Robin Lumsden]

Thanks everyone.

I know the totenkopf was worn by various Freikorps formations, and that they also painted numerous other devices on their helmets.

I just wondered if anyone had seen this on a front-line helmet - like the Red Cross for medics etc.

The Prussian Foot Guards wore their Hohenzollern shields painted on the sides of their trench helmets during the latter part of WW1, and there is plenty of photographic evidence that some British units wore quite garish painted formation badges on steel helmets in the field. During the winter war of l939-40, the Finnish 4th Dragoons also wore a large skull/skeleton painted on the front of their combat helmets.

I just wondered if this might be some unofficial adornment on the part of soldiers from IR92.

Might just turn out to be one of those 'unanswered mysteries'

Regards,

Robin.

[Brian S]

I have several hundred photos of Sturmtruppen and they are all very drab looking. Highly unlikely this helmet was frontline WWI. And if Red Cross, you WOULD want the enemy to discern that distinction.

[McCulloh]

I agree with Brian. I too have about 100 photos of Sturmtruppen squads and none of them have anything on their helmets. About 80 are face on shots, but given the prevalence of snipers in the front line, only an idiot would have painted a nice white flash on his helmet that a night flare could illuminate.

[Brian S]

I agree with Brian. I too have about 100 photos of Sturmtruppen squads...

Isn't it amazing how all these guys seem to look 'alike'? That stained tired face, uniform that blends into the dirt, nothing shiny. Even receiving their EK awards, they're just lined up looking like this. A half smile on their faces as if they've learned not to even show the glean of their teeth for fear of observation.

[Robin Lumsden]

I agree totally with everything that's been said.

It's still a mystery though. The '2' on the back would have been for FIELD recognition, rather than civil/parade use.

Anyone seen ANYTHING like this in pix before, apart from the well-known Freikorps trooper with crude skull on the front???