Desert Column

The Desert Column Forum chronicles Australian military history from 1899 to 1920.
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 Post subject: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Mon 29 Aug 2011 8:24 pm 
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Second Lieutenant
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Joined: Fri 19 Nov 2010 7:03 am
Posts: 232
Location: Ryde, NSW
This picture speaks for itself.


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Pickelhaube Pyramid, New York


Les


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Mon 29 Aug 2011 8:27 pm 
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Second Lieutenant
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Location: Ryde, NSW
Another view of the pyramid.


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Mon 29 Aug 2011 8:33 pm 
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Second Lieutenant
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And here is the process of collecting the helmets at the coal face.


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I found that these pix were bizarre and hideous at the same time. It reminded me of Hulagu Khan's pyramid of skulls after the sack of Baghdad in 1258.

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Les


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Tue 30 Aug 2011 9:00 am 
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Lieutenant General
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Joined: Tue 16 Mar 2010 7:36 pm
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Location: Canberra, ACT
Les

Good to see you back again.

Incredible pix mate. There is something very sinister about this whole photograph and the idea behind it. Since they are all captured Pickelhaubes, then each of these represents someone who has fallen into the hands of the allies, either dead or POW. This is very medieval - sort of like putting heads on a pike at the entrance of a town. The heads on the pike are anonymous but the message is clear to all people passing the grisly display. These pix really illustrate the dark passenger carried on the journey to victory.

Cheers

Bill


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Tue 30 Aug 2011 9:33 am 
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Joined: Sun 21 Mar 2010 8:57 am
Posts: 1994
Mates.

Another problem was by the time the Yanks arrived in France the PH was all ready out of date and not worn by German soldiers.

These had been replaced by the steel helmet in 1916.

So where did they get them?

Possibly from the French after the many German prisoners or dead abandoned on the battlefields following the Marne battles in 1914.

S.B


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Sun 04 Sep 2011 10:30 pm 
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Joined: Wed 13 Apr 2011 2:03 am
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Location: Earlwood, NSW
This is a deeply disturbing picture. Cam


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 Post subject: Re: Pickelhaube Pyramid
PostPosted: Mon 05 Sep 2011 10:15 am 
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Joined: Sun 24 Oct 2010 8:57 am
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Location: Melbourne, Vic
Hello Cam, I tend to agree with you. There is something very "off" about the idea. Each Pickelhaube was worn on someone's head. The unanswered question is - what happened to the heads who owned the Pickelhaubes?

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Otto


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