"Festungs-Pionier Bataillon Nr. 23" Pickelhaube

LangeKerl

LangeKerl

Well-known member
Not a Pickelhaube I would have looked for, but this popped up at a show in Gettysburg. When I did some research on the unit I thought I couldn't leave it sitting on the table.

The Fortress Pioneer Battalions were pretty unique.
 

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The Bataillon was garrisoned in Graudenz, which was where my Grandfather was born. Just another reason why I had to have it. He was drafted in 1915 and served in the 11th (1st West Prussian) Foot Artillery garrisoned in Thorn, and served till 1919.

Always on the lookout for a Pickelhaube from that regiment.
 
This is a very good and scarce one.
Pickelhauben from the east regions of the german empire are pretty hard to find, because they mostly were engaged on the russian front.
I particularly love them and I own three of them.

- A JR45 (Insterburg and Darkehmen) marked JR45 and BA.I and dated 1915 (worn at the February 1915 created II Ersatz-Bataillon JR45 in Königsberg, same garrison as the Ersatz-Bataillon of the GR3, and moved September 1915 to Insterburg)
- A JR152 (Marienburg and Stuhm)
- A LJR19 (Posensches) that first was part of the Thorn Festung (beautiful city on the Vistula), then has been the whole war on the eastern front.

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Philippe
 
That is a great looking helmet! I love the light color of the liner.

The helmets of Philippe are very nice as well. I love their markings, especially on the felt helmet because that's not that common.

The former eastern territories are indeed an intruiging piece of history. I believe there are some Polish members here as well who are probably particularly interested in these regions of their home land.

I have no helmets of these areas but I do have a belt which a posted a couple of months ago, marked to IR14 which was stationed in Bromberg.

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argonne said:
Celui-ci est très bon et rare.
Les Pickelhauben des régions orientales de l'empire allemand sont assez difficiles à trouver, car ils étaient pour la plupart engagés sur le front russe.
Je les adore particulièrement et j'en possède trois.
Philippe
Click to expand...

I managed to find a few of them here in Lorraine, for various reasons, particularly in cases where these regiments had made incursions onto the Eastern Front. This is the case of the P.B.23 which was part of the 3rd Army present here in France in 1916. (Verdun-Douaumont-Vaux)
The 23rd Parachute Battalion was used for the attack on the forts of Douaumont and Vaux, as it specialized in siege engineering and fortification attacks.


Here's mine... a little less pristine.

PB23 Z2 Prus Orientale.JPGPB23 Z2 Festung PB.JPGPB23 Z2 FestungPB.JPG

Both helmets are dated 1907, the year of their creation.
 
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Unit identified helmets and other equipment are among the most interesting. The histories of the fighting in the East, where many of the units fought throughout WWI are sad and tragic but also heroic and enduring. The author Prit Buttar provides a detailed account of the fighting throughout the war and beyond. Beginning with Collision of Empires: The war on the Eastern Front 1914, many of the units that wore the pickelhaube pictured in this thread participated in these battles. If you have not read this and subsequent books, it is well worth anyone interested in this theater of combat.

www.goodreads.com

Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1…

Imperial Germany, Hapsburg Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist…
www.goodreads.com www.goodreads.com

Best regards
John
 
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