Item Ref# KS6133

OVS Headwear 1 - Boer Forces

Brief description:   Very few relics of military history are as distinctive and striking as the German Pickelhaube. After Prussia’s quick victory over France in 1871 the spiked black leather helmet became a symbol of military strength, moving several other armed forces around the world to imitate the Prussians and to adopt some form of spiked helmet. One of the most interesting states to do so was the small Boer republic of the Oranje Vrijstaat.

In November 1880 FWR Albrecht, formerly of the 4th Prussian Guard Artillery of Berlin and a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War, was appointed as captain and commanding officer of the Oranje Vrijstaat Artillerie Corps (OVSAC). Under his competent leadership the OVSAC was to undergo a major turnabout.

Earlier Free State Artillery uniforms and helmets were based on those of the British Royal Artillery, but in 1885 Albrecht started to introduce Prussian style uniforms. The new uniforms resembled the dress of the 2nd and 4th German Guard Artillery regiments and were imported from Germany. At least two different suppliers were used, CF Wulfert and Eduard Sachs, both Berlin based military effects and uniform factories.

Exactly when the Pickelhaube made its first appearance in Bloemfontein is not known, but it is suspected to have been in the late 1880s or early 1890s.    Because the Free State’s helmets were privately purchased they differed from the standard German army issue Pickelhaube.

Helmet Construction:

The Free State helmet consisted of a domed shell, similar to the German M1891, with a round front and square rear visor. The helmet was finished in a bright polished black, while helmet fittings such as the front plate, ball final and base, front visor trim and rear spine were manufactured from gilded brass.

Front Plate: The one-piece stamped gilded brass front plate was of the same design as those worn on the earlier Royal Artillery pattern helmets. It consisted of a large eight-pointed star with a Free State coat-of-arms and scroll (bandeau), reading “Oranje Vrystaat”, surrounded by a laurel wreath. The stamped plate was secured to the front of the helmet by two threaded bolts soldered to the reverse of the plate and passing through the front of the helmet before being fastened by two flat square brass nuts.

Kokarden: Unlike some researchers have claimed in the past, only one Kokarde was worn under the chinscales; on the right hand side of the helmet. The Kokarde was manufactured from one piece of metal with a small centre hole (pre-1891 design) and finished in enamel paint in the colours of the lines on the state flag, white/orange/white.

As was the case in the German army, the Kokarden on the Free State Artillery helmets seem to have differed according to rank. Surviving examples show at least two types of Kokarden in use:

• • • Privates wore a plain stamped sheet metal Kokarde with a serrated edge.
    • Officers wore a brass one-piece Kokarde with an intricate "ribbon" or "waffle" pattern and without the serrated edge.
      

Kugel: Being an artillery unit, the helmets of all ranks carried a brass ball final with a round base. In the German army the height of helmet spikes was set at 95mm for officers and 85mm for all other ranks. On privately purchased helmets, like the ones imported by the Free State, the spikes generally tended to be taller and of a better quality. The ball spike top was removable to enable an orange and white falling horse hair plume (Trichter and Haarbusch) to be mounted to the helmet for full dress purposes.

Perlring: The neck of the ball spike on Free State helmets was decorated by a brass Perlring. Privates and NCOs wore the regular ball-pattern Perlring, while Officers’ helmets utilized a more elaborate pattern sometimes referred to as the "Dart and Egg" pattern.

Base Mounts: The ball spike base on Private’s and NCO’s helmets was secured to the helmet shell with four domed threaded screws and was fastened on the underside with flat square brass nuts. Officer’s helmets utilized small 8-pointed stars on a threaded post to secure the spike base.

On the surviving officer’s helmet of Lt Johan Böning, in the collection of the War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein, the ball spike base is held in place by three domed and one star screw. Lt Böning was a one-pip lieutenant, but it is doubted whether his rank was indicated by the number of stars on the base and normally all four screws would have been stars for all officer ranks.

Chinscales: Like the German Guard Artillery units, all ranks of the Free State Artillery Corps wore convex chinscales. The chinscale strap consisted of two halves with a small lug connecting the two thinner ends together. The other wider ends of the strap were secured to the helmet with a Rosette which had two split prongs that were bent back inside the helmet.

Visor and Trim: Visors on privately purchased helmets were made from higher quality leather and sewn to the helmet shell with fine thread. The visor trim was also of a higher quality, around 6mm wide, curved in shape and considerably thinner than the German army issue.

Rear Spine: On the rear of the Free State helmet a pre-1895 plain brass spine ran from the spike base to the bottom of the rear visor to add strength and rigidity to the helmet body. The spine was secured to the helmet with hidden bolts soldered to the underside of the spine and fastened with flat square brass nuts on the inside of the helmet. Privately purchased rear spines did not incorporate the M1895 spine ventilation hole and sliding cover and were of a higher quality than the German army’s pre-1895 spine.

Liners: Free State helmets were lined with squared leather tongues. This pattern was commonly encountered on Eigentums-helm and was referred to as the "Extra" pattern. The leather was of a higher quality and it was felt that this style of liner afforded more comfort than the rounded tongues of the standard German army helmet. As far as could be ascertained Free State helmets did not have cloth liners on the undersides of the visors as was the case with some German officer’s and privately purchased helmets.

Summary

As with most “impractical” military things, the Pickelhaube did not see wide scale use in the Free State and no recorded instances of Free State artillerymen wearing their helmets during the Boer War could be found. Nevertheless the adoption of these helmets remains a very interesting and often overlooked part of South Africa’s military history. It is unfortunate that only a hand full of Free State helmets are known to have survived and it is hoped that more looted examples will one day be discovered in overseas collections and museums.

Extra information:

The OVSAC pickelhaubes were all ordered in the 1890s from Berlin and were kept in one of the buildings near the old fort. When Roberts took Bloemfontein in March 1900 the stores were raided by British troops and the uniforms and band instruments carried off. The majority of OVSAC full dress stuff found their way to Britain. Of that lot one pickelhaube, two caps, a pair of trousers, two tunics, one shoulder belt and pouch and one waist belt with frog and short sword was in later years returned by a British lady ( a daugter of one of the raiders) to SA and donated to the War Museum in Bloemfontein. 

Material:    Leather and Brass
Manufacturer:    tbc
Artist:    Unknown                    
Circa:   1880's
Dimensions:      tbc 
Weight:         tbc
Inscription:     tbc