StormtroopertrainingwasalsoconductedinGaliciaandPalestinebehindthe
frontlines.InGalicia,theGermanswerealsoaccompaniedintheirtrainingby
theAustro-HungarianStormtrooperunits.²⁸⁰TheOttomanstormtroopersach-
ievedseveralvictoriesandon5May 1918 oneunitwasevenmentionedinthe
OttomanofficialcommuniquéfortheirsuccessagainstaBritishcavalryunit.²⁸¹
TherewasadifferentapproachintheOttomanarmywithregardtothe
adoptionofasteelhelmet.Theneedtoissuesteelhelmetsforfrontlinetroops
exposedtoartillerybombardmenthadbeenstatedearlierinanOttomanprop-
agandaperiodical.ItdiscussedtheGermanM16model.²⁸²Althoughthishelmet
hadseriousdisadvantages.Theventilationholesletincoldairinwinterandthe
metalcouldcausethermaldamagetotheskinincoldandhotweatheralike.
Moreover,therewereacousticproblemsbecausethehelmet’sshape,whichcov-
eredtheears,disturbedhearing.Soldiersinthefieldwereforcedtoshoutout
theirordersandcouldbespottedimmediatelybytheenemyforces.²⁸³TheGer-
manhelmetwasnotthefirstchoiceforassaultsquads,eventhoughitoffered
adequateprotection.Onthesegrounds,theOttomanarmyorderedpeaklesshel-
metsfromGermany,whoseneckandearguardshadbeenremovedwithagrind-
er.²⁸⁴Thesehelmetswerethebestchoiceforthetaskscarriedoutbytheassault
units.After1918,someoftheOttomanhelmetsremainedwiththesultan’sarmy
andwerelatertransferredtotherepublicanforces,afterwhichmostofthem
werestored.Theshapeofthehelmetservedtounderlinetheimageoftherepub-
licanmilitary’selite,justlikeinthe 1936 warschoolgraduatebook.²⁸⁵
Wictor,FlamethrowerTroopsofWorldWarI,6 6 – 68.
ATASE-BDHK1 499 D9Gö15Fi1.
AhmedRefik[Altınay]:“OsmanlıMiğferleriveHarb-iHâzır”[TheOttomanHelmetsandthe
currentWar],HarbMecmuası 18 – 2( 1333 /1 91 7), 27 9.
Cf.theretrospectiveviewofaveteranontheM16model:Anonymous,“IstderStahlhelm
zweckmäßig?,”MWB 116 – 11 (19 31 /32),cols.4 31 – 43 2.
SeeChrisFlaherty,“WW1OttomanTurkishSteelHelmets,”TheArmourerMilitariaMaga-
zine 104 (2011), 36 – 38.Itmightjustbeacoincidenceandnoretransfer,butratherpurelyutil-
itarianthinking,whichledtoissuingexactlythesametypeofhelmettothenewdeployedGer-
manparatroopersin 1935 .ForadrawingofthepeaklessM35modelseeLudwigBaer,Vom
StahlhelmzumGefechtshelm:EineEntwicklungsgeschichtevon 1915 bis 1993 ,vol.1(Neu-Anspach:
selfpublished,1994), 44 2.
Cf.thestylizedStormtrooperinAnonymous: 1936 HarpOkuluHatırası;BirinciTalebe
Bölüğü[WarSchoolMemoirBook,FirstCompany(i.e.Infantry)Section](Noplace:nopublisher,
[c. 19 36]);copyinauthorʼsposession.Inthe 1920 s,theFrenchAdrianhelmetwasintroducedas
thestandardsteelhelmetofthearmy,thoughsomeoftheGermanoriginhelmetsseemtohave
survivedintheinfantrybranch;cf.Figure4.
88 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer