Very rare Imperial leather helmet (Pickelhaube) of the German colonial Schutztruppe. Very good condition with some traces of age. No repairs, no damage.

The Schutztruppe was a small force in the Eastern African colony of Germany (now Tanzania, Ruanda and Burundi). With only a few thousand soldiers, among which only a couple of hundred German soldiers, they were able to harass and hold out against a force of 100.000 allied soldiers, even invading some allied colonies. Under the command of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck they fought a guerilla war until November 25 1918.

The British started hostilities on December 1st 1914 with an invasion of the harbor of Tanga... which ended in disaster. On December 6 1914 the British troops withdrew leaving behind a considerable amount of equipment...

On November 13th 1918 the Schutztruppe fought, and won, a battle in the neighborhood of Kasama (Zambia).Only then Lettow-Vorbeck was informed that a cease fire had been reached on November 11th. In the following days Lettow-Vorbeck negociated his surrender. All officers were allowed to keep their weapons... only 30 remained, together with 125 German NCO's and other ranks, 1168 Askari's (locals in German service) and 1522 local civilians who carried the equipment. After laying down their weapons, the Askari soldiers marched in an orderly manner to the POW camp.

The British were amazed that such a small force was able to withstand a force of 100.000 soldiers and basically lived off the allied provisions and allied captured weapons and ammunition for the full 4 years. Only one ship was able to bring provisions to the Schutztruppe in the entire war. It is unknown how many allied soldiers died of combat and diseases, but the tally with the South-Africans alone was around 12.000.