I will since I missed a turn. This was my Christmas present to myself
This should be easy
I will since I missed a turn. This was my Christmas present to myself
This should be easy
Last edited by Forward Observer; October 13, 2021 at 08:37 PM.
Artillery brings dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl!
I can recognize the bald eagle of the Great Seal, so it's obviously an American pickelhaube, but for ther rest... I think there's also a cross made of cannons behind the heraldic shield, so I'll say a spiked helmet for the 1st artillery regiment of the United States Army. For its type, maybe a M1902, based on its similarity to that auctioned piece, but there's a strong chance my guess is utterly stupid.
You are on the right track and that picture is of a version of this particular helmet. Unfortunately, the auction house misidentified the helmet they had for sale. There is no such thing as an model 1902 helmet. Since I follow a lot of auctions, I see this all the time. What the auction appraiser probably did was to look under the sweat band and saw the maker's contract date with the government. Mine has a completely different contract date, but that still not the model date. This was in use for over 20 years--most of which was in the 19th century and not
the 20th.
Find the correct model number (year introduced) and it's your turn
.
Cheers
Last edited by Forward Observer; January 15, 2021 at 06:29 PM.
Artillery brings dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl!
Yes, it is the Model 1881 which replaced an earlier but similar model 1872. Starting about the time of the civil war, the French style kepi was the most popular form of headgear and various versions of it were worn by both the Union and Confederate soldiers. This continued through what is called the "Indian Wars" period. However, after the Germans came out the victor of the Franco-Prussian War (1870--1871) the US took note and introduced its own version of a military spiked helmet. Instead of molded leather, they used pressed felt for enlisted and pressed cork covered in blue wool cloth for commissioned officers. The officers had to purchase their helmets while the enlisted got two helmets issued per enlistment. Of course these helmets were strictly for dress and offered no ballistic protection.
The M1881 was the standard dress helmet from 1881 until 1904 when it started to be replaced by simpler visored bell crown caps. Mine has a contract date of 1898, so it would be from the Spanish American war period.
Unmounted troops wore a helmet with a spike while mounted troops wore helmets with the dyed horsehair plumes and braided cords. The decorative cords were draped and attached to the tunic. The idea was to prevent the rather fragile helmet from falling to the ground while on horseback.
You were exactly correct in that this helmet was for a battery of the 1st regiment of artillery. This particular helmet would represent a light mounted artillery field artillery unit--red being the color for artillery.
The officer's versions were much finer in that the plumes were made of imported Yak hair and all of the brass parts would have been gold plated or gilded. All the cords would have been gold bullion and the chin straps would have been a plated chain.
To be 122 years old, my helmet is in relatively good condition. The sweatband shows it was worn but still evidently well taken care of.
You have the floor and rep given.
Last edited by Forward Observer; January 16, 2021 at 08:49 AM.
Artillery brings dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl!
Thanks Forward Observer, that was a very interesting reading!
Next one is a replica of a small ship, whose contribution to the war was however very important:
That's the original ship, whose wreck was salvaged, repaired and is now exhibited in a museum park. The ship was distinguished in WWI. It's not difficult to find, if you take into account its type and nationality (the flag is hidden, but it can be deduced from the background).
It's the Ottoman minelayer Nusret, which had important role in the Dardanelles campaign.
"We'll go to the front—and beyond it, if it'll save the galaxy. Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."
That's right! Nusret laid the mines in the Dardanelles straits in an area that the allied fleet had supposedly already cleaned. As a result, quite a few ships exploded, which convinced the French and the British to abandon the naval invasion and focus instead on disembarking their troops on land.
Nice little something.
"We'll go to the front—and beyond it, if it'll save the galaxy. Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."
The craziest looking SMG I've ever seen. I can only assume that it is a South American or a Russian copy of a European weapon. But this particular design looks like it is from the 1930's. Like the bastard offspring of a German MP18 or MP30 and some other thing. It looks really over designed, like they put on attachments to be a really cool prop gun in a movie or something. If I am not mistaken the MP30's usually have the magazine on the bottom. But this thing has it on the side like an MP18... yet it doesn't look too much like an MP18 either.
If it wasn't for the barrel and its sleeve, I'd say it's Lanchester....
Let's say that it was made in Europe by a minor country.
"We'll go to the front—and beyond it, if it'll save the galaxy. Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."
Gotcha. Tallinn Model 1923.
Indeed it is. Made in my beloved country of Estonia in 1926, about 600 made.
"We'll go to the front—and beyond it, if it'll save the galaxy. Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."
Almost forgot about this, sorry.
Graf Zeppelin?
Cause tomorrow is a brand-new day
And tomorrow you'll be on your way
Don't give a damn about what other people say
Because tomorrow is a brand-new day
hint?
Under the patronage of Finlander, patron of Lugotorix & Lifthrasir & joerock22 & Socrates1984 & Kilo11 & Vladyvid & Dick Cheney & phazer & Jake Armitage & webba 84 of the Imperial House of Hader