# WWI helmet



## jaks53

I have a WWI helmet which has writing on the inside rear flange. This helmet was of  Austria-Hungarian Empire issue. I have had persons who read German, Austrian, Polish, and Hungarian look at the writing and no one can read nor identify the language of origin.

I realize this is not a translation site and I apologize for taking up your time and space but I can find no site that seems to address this particular situation. I was hoping that someone here might be able to direct me to a specific site or if possible view a picture of the writing and identify and translate the writing.

Thank you all for your time and understanding


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## cherine

Hi Jaks,

Can you transcribe what's written on the helmet or post a link to the photo? I hope someone will be able to help you.


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## jaks53

I tried to post a link to view a picture of the writing however a message popped up stating I had to post 30 threads prior to being able to submit a link. I will put the link site in this reply and see if it goes through. 

Just copy or type into your browser:       

www.flickr.com/photos/jaks_53 

You can then view 2 examples of the writing. It might be a little hard to discern but I have posted the best photo's I could take.


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## jaks53

Oh and Cherine, thank you so much for your help in this identification quest of mine. I've had this helmet since I was 12 years old and recently uncovered it in a box in my attic where it had been stored when I went off to college. Now 4 decades later I would like to know what it says. And if it is a name and an identifier, perhaps be able to research the history and locate a family member.


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## galaxy man

jaks53 said:


> I have had persons who read German, Austrian, Polish, and Hungarian look at the writing and no one can read nor identify the language of origin



I post here a somewhat enhanced copy of your photo, although I still was not able to read the handwritten letters. Maybe others can...

What seems to be an  *ü* at the red mark is common in both German and Hungarian, but the rest of the text doesn't show other similarly characteristic Hungarian signs, (like the vowels: á, é, ó, ú), or a freestanding "a" (definite article).

Some more legible photos might help


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## Arrius

The two words at the end of the top line, I would say are the man's name, surname first: *Darlinkia*(,)* Wasile*. The W in German is pronounced like our V, so in Russian it would be  Василий and in English Vasily. German handwriting at this time was "spiky" and so different from that of today that it is indecipherable to most modern Germans, which the writing of the name does not reflect. But the rest of the words were probably written by another person, not a German or Austrian - the lower case *e *familiar to us rules that out - though probably a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but showing some German-language influence.
By the way, if this isn't the right forum for language identification, I don't know what is.


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## jaks53

Arrius and galaxy man: Thank you both for your translations and explanations of the writing in the helmet.

galaxy man: I don't think I can get a much better jpeg image of the writing however I will try. I will post a message to you when I have done so.

Arrius: Thank you for the translation and information on the language and how it has evolved. I also wanted you to know that the only reason I mentioned that I wasn't sure if this was the proper forum for a language translation was that this appeared to be a more scholarly site not one for language misfits like myself.

Also any indication as to what the lower line of the writing is? Someone thought that the first image was a number possibly a 9*(nine)

Thanks again to all who have helped and to any future translators


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## Arrius

After a name, the most likely item would be an address. I would have expected a regimental address, but it looks to me (very vaguely and tentatively) like 
*  9 Republik straße* (strasse=street),
But that is an odd street name for an Empire and _straße_ would normally be joined to the name of the street in German, which is not the case here. Of course, 1914-18 soldiers were not always very well educated. Perhaps younger, keener eyes can confirm or reject what I have deciphered.


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## Frank78

Arrius said:


> After a name, the most likely item would be an address. I would have expected a regimental address, but it looks to me (very vaguely and tentatively) like
> *  9 Republik straße* (strasse=street),
> But that is an odd street name for an Empire and _straße_ would normally be joined to the name of the street in German, which is not the case here.



Beside that it's also unusual to write the house number in front of the street name. The format is "street name + house number"

I cannot read anything but maybe it's the name of his unit.


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## galaxy man

Arrius said:


> it looks to me (very vaguely and tentatively) like  9 Republik straße (strasse=street), But that is an odd street name for an Empire and straße would normally be joined to the name of the street in German, which is not the case here. Of course, 1914-18 soldiers were not always very well educated. Perhaps younger, keener eyes can confirm or reject what I have deciphered.



Although I can't read that line at all, I agree that the name Republikstraße would seem to be anathema for the empire 

Also: As I vaguely remember, German custom usually places the house number after the street name (Republikstraße 9), and off the top of my head I can't think of any language within the empire that would use the reverse (9 Republikstraße) format.


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## galaxy man

Frank78 said:


> Beside that it's also unusual to write the house number in front of the street name. The format is "street name + house number" I cannot read anything but maybe it's the name of his unit.



Oops! Sorry for the repetition


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## Arrius

I should have mentioned the anomaly of the number before the street name. As I said, I would have expected a regimental address, not a civilian one. At least my post drew the interest of others to the problem.


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## jaks53

Thank you Arrius,galaxy man, and Frank 78 for all the information. On the name of the individual, as supplied by Arrius, am I correct in thinking that you all agree on his assessment? As for the second line it seems to be a vexing problem. I will post some more pix tomorrow and leave a notification that they are up for viewing. I will shoot them using different exposure settings and see if I can bring the writing up any better.


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## galaxy man

jaks53 said:


> On the name of the individual, as supplied by Arrius, am I correct in thinking that you all agree on his assessment



I am unable to read the majority of the letters in all of the words, including the ones that Arrius reads as names, so I can not comment. Let's see if the new photos will help


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## jaks53

Sorry all had some work that I could not get away from and had me out of town for a few days. Finally got the latest attempt at getting a better photo up hope it helps. Thanks again for your help.


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## Frank78

Perhaps you should ask a moderator to move it to the German forums. There are more people who could deal with this inscription. It's hard to find here.


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## jaks53

I would like to have more persons aware of the attempted translation. However I dont know how to link or move this to another forum so if you can give me directions how to or if you would like to post a note to the other forum regarding this endeavor please feel free to do so and my thanks in advance. New clearer photo available at  flickr.com/photos/jaks_53/  it is listed as 1587cropped


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## galaxy man

At the end of the first line I see now what Arrius identified as _*Wasile*_, (although the last letter seems to be capitalized, which is odd!) and he may also be right that the word before that might be a family name starting with _*D*_.  It seems to end with _*ski*_, but I am not sure.

I read the last word in the last line as *feldkamp* (feldkemp?) which I am unable to interpret (a native German speaker would be a much better judge)...


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## Frank78

I've read "feld...", too. Beside "9 te leichte...".

Starting with a lowercase "*f*eld.." would be strange.


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## Kurtchen

First line could be the rank _Haupt~~ _something
Second line reads _9. Feldkomp_, so probably a pith helmet worn by a member of the _Schutztruppe DOA_


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## Frank78

Kurtchen said:


> First line could be the rank _Haupt~~ _something
> Second line reads _9. Feldkomp_, so probably a pith helmet worn by a member of the* Schutztruppe DOA*



Erm...it's a kuk-army helmet.


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## galaxy man

Then _9. Feld-Kompagnie_ it is, thank you, Kurtchen!

According to this book there was, in fact, a _9. Feld-Kompagnie_ in the Austria-Hungarian empire, and while the word _Feld_ is not capitalized in the handwriting, it might be a understandable mistake made by a soldier who's native language was most likely not German (first name Wasile).


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## jaks53

I am interested in knowing the meaning of the words Haupt and feldkomp. The words are imprinted within a German M17 steel helmet, having German camouflage pattern. and was made in Austria. you may view pictures of it a  flickr.com/photos/jaks_53/


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## jaks53

galaxy man: Wow! What a find I must plead total stupidity on this but what would those words translate to in English. It makes seance however that it would be a unit to which the owner belonged. If you could please post the translation for me that would be great. I am amazed that you found that information. Thank you.


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## Frank78

Feld-kompagnie (contemporary German: Feldkompanie): field company

Haupt- : either "main XXX" or in "Hauptmann"=captain

I think it must be Hauptmann because they usually take command of companies.


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## Forero

And "9." means "ninth".


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## jaks53

Thanks for the translations I do appreciate all that you guys, and girls if any, have done to help me get a good and viable translation. If not perfect it seems pretty close. Thanks again.


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## Lykurg

I've got something different... though of course it is hard to read because it is so worn off (and rewritten with the same words), in my estimation it should be something like

"Trupp Duderik Wasile
9te leichte Inft."

which would mean

"Fireteam Duderik Wasile 
9th Light Infantry"

(The last word is just a poor guess; the ending "t" would be uncommon in that abbreviation.)

The name is very uncommon and hard to distinguish - but that fits to the big melting-pot Austria-Hungary. 
Probably I somehow misread the first part of the name, which might be either prename or surname (rather the surname if it that man was from Hungary).


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## Frank78

Lykurg said:


> "Trupp Duderik Wasile
> 9*te leichte* Inft."



I thought I'm alone with my guess


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## jaks53

Lykurg and Frank78, Thanks for the new translation. Seems to be a plausible meaning to the writing rather then a street address as suggested early on by Arrius. Who, I need to add, could not figure out why a street address would appear on the helmet in such a fashion with the number in the fore, which I guess goes against the norm in German address writing. Also he could not justify and reversed the translation of Republic Street. So again thank you to all of you for your hard work and ideas at the translation. I feel comfortable with the latest version. I must say that the first attempts laid the foundation for the others to build upon. Thank you all again I am amazed a how quickly and ardently you all attacked this request. Thank You.


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## ravensden43

Since the helmet has no "Pickelhaube" or spike, it was probably issued on or after 1916.
As far as I can tell, the first word of the first line is "Haupt". If this is the case, "haupt" is an abbreviation for Hauptgefreiter, which is a corporal or squad leader. The next two words are his name, last name then first.
The next line says "9 feldkomp" which means 9th field company.  This would place him in the 3rd Battalion of some unknown regiment.  One other interesting fact, the term "feld" was only used for non-combat related units, units in rear support roles near or on the front lines.  I believe this soldier was not actually trained as an infantryman, but was either attached to an infantry regiment in some role or another.
German army infantry structure during WWI:  Infantry regiment divided into 3 Battalions, named I Battalion, II Battalion, III Battalion.  Each Battalion divided into 4 Companies, named 1 to 12.  I Battalion would have Companies 1 through 4, II Battalion would have Companies 5 through 8, and III Battalion would have Companies 9 through 12.  Each Company divided into 4 platoons, each platoon divided into 4 sections, and each section divided into 4 squads of 8 men and a Hauptgefreiter.


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## ravensden43

The above mentioned translation that "Haupt" could be short for "Hauptmann" or captain could also be correct.  He could of been the captain of the 9th field company.
Seems as if questions still remain.  But he was in the 9th field company, 3rd Battalion, unknown regiment.


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## galaxy man

The way I read it now:

???? Dudeski Wasile
       9. feldkomp


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