Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is an excellent example of a World War One Camouflage-Painted bring-back trophy helmet which was likely sent home as a souvenir by Corporal Jerry A. Prokop, Company E, 310th Ammunition Train, 85th Division to his future wife, Miss Frances Drasch, who lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The helmet was painted with a very interesting “Splotch” pattern, with large chunks of green, orange, and brown across the helmet, with some of the orange creating a sort of band around the helmet. The very bottom row appears to be the original helmet’s paint. As the mail-home information was painted on top of this paint, there are no doubts about its authenticity as a combat-painted camouflage Stahlhelm.

The send-home information reads:

Miss Frances Drasch
Station 6, #63R6
Milwaukee
Wisconsin
U.S.A.

In our research, we found that Miss Frances Drasch was married to Jerry Prokop on July 3rd, 1919, and as Jerry returned from France in May 1919, we are confident it was him who sent this helmet to Frances. A great helmet with lots of research potential.

The shell is stamped Q66 indicating that Quist in Esslingen, Germany manufactured it. Size 66 is a nice large size that can accommodate liners from 58cm to 60cm or US 7 1/4 to 7 1/2. There is a rolling mill mark dome stamp, R493, for steel produced at Stahlwerk Röchling in Volkingen.

The helmet retains its original leather liner band, which is still attached via the three original split liner pins. The original three liner pads are retained although a bit worn, and they do not retain their interior pillows. The leather liner band is heavily worn but is still intact.

The helmet still has both of the dome headed chinstrap retaining rivets, which hold the interior pickelhaube style chin strap lugs in place. The original chinstrap is completely retained, something we almost never see on these. The shell also retains both of the extended ventilation side lugs, which are the correct short version without any step for the larger size 66 shell. This would ensure proper installation of a Stirnpanzer brow plate regardless of shell size.

This is a gorgeous camouflage helmet with great provenance of having been sent home by a soldier to his future wife! Comes ready for further research and display.

History of the M16 Helmet
The Stahlhelm was introduced into regular service during the Verdun campaign in early 1916.

The M1916 design had side-mounted horn-like ventilator lugs which were intended to be support for an additional steel brow plate or Stirnpanzer, which only ever saw limited use by snipers and trench raiding parties, as it was too heavy for general use.

The shell came in different sizes, from 60 to 68, with some size 70s reported. The suspension, or liner, consisted of a headband with three segmented leather pouches, each holding padding materials, and leather or fabric cords could be adjusted to provide a comfortable fit. The one-piece leather chinstrap was attached to the shell by M1891 chinstrap lugs, the same kind used in the Pickelhaube helmet.

The M1916 design provided excellent protection: Reserve Lieutenant Walter Schulze of 8th Company Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 described his combat introduction to the helmet on the Somme, 29 July 1916:

"... suddenly, with a great clanging thud, I was hit on the forehead and knocked flying onto the floor of the trench... a shrapnel bullet had hit my helmet with great violence, without piercing it, but sufficiently hard to dent it. If I had, as had been usual up until a few days previously, been wearing a cap, then the Regiment would have had one more man killed."

But the helmet was not without its flaws. The ventilator horns often let cold air in during the winter, requiring the wearer to block the vents with mud or fabric. The large, flared skirt tended to make it difficult for soldiers to hear, distorting surrounding sounds and creating an echo when the wearer spoke.

Originally painted Feldgrau (field grey), the Stahlhelm was often camouflaged by troops in the field using mud, foliage, cloth covers, and paint. Official issue cloth covers in white and grey appeared in late 1916 and early 1917. Camouflage paint was not formally introduced until July 1918, when German Army Order II, No 91 366, signed by General Erich Ludendorff on 7 July 1918, outlined official standards for helmet camouflage. The order stipulated that helmets should be painted in several colors, separated by a finger-wide black line. The colors should be relevant to the season, such as using green, brown and ocher in summer.

After the effectiveness of the M1916 design was validated during the 1916 campaigns, incremental improvements were subsequently made.