M16 German Camouflage Helmet Ww1

M16 German Camouflage Helmet Ww1

A classic Relic M16 German helmet in an unusual hand painted three colour scheme camouflage segment of black ,brown and green.
With visible small pitted holes ,it’s still a sound helmet. the camouflage can be seen to the front and R/H side, but has lost it at the back and some to the L/H side due to it being in relic or dug up condition. The metal has had a lacquer type coating to protect and has been on or applied many years ago , I have made no attempt to remove it.

The M16 helmet design had side-mounted horn-like ventilator lugs which were intended to support an additional steel brow plate or Stirnpanzer, which saw limited use only by snipers and trench raiding parties, as it was too heavy for general use.^[22]

The shell came in different sizes, from 60 to 68, with some size 70s reported. Helmet weight varied from 0.98 kg to 1.4 kg, depending on shell size. The suspension, or liner, consisted of a headband with three segmented leather pouches, each holding padding materials, and leather or fabric cords that could be adjusted to provide a comfortable fit. The one-piece leather chin strap was attached to the shell by M1891 chinstrap lugs, the same kind used in the Pickelhaube helmet.

The M16 helmet 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.^[23]

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.

M16 German Camouflage Helmet Ww1