landsknechte

One of the nice things about the red and the brown Bakelite is that it looks like Bakelite. Distinctly not a modern plastic, and that only helps to add to the historical "vibe" of the bayonet.

Ignore what the text on the medal actually says, and look at the ribbon, the lion, etc.

It looks downright Finnish...

For a WW2 Heer EM, was the dress bayonet an issue item, or was it a private purchase "upgrade"? Were regular combat style bayonets worn in the "walking out" level of uniform with troddel, or was that a horrendous no-no?

Detail:

It's ugly, but you don't often see HJ knives for less than $30...

The screws don't seem to be messed with. I suppose it might have been an earlier stamp or an old part that somehow found it's way into a later production run. There was a strange bit of luck involved in this bayonet. I guy that I work with knew that I was hunting for a red bakelite bayonet, and saw one at a local antique show. At the time, he couldn't reach me to see if I wanted it. I found this one on eBay a few weeks later from a seller in the same general area, and brought it in to work to show him. It was the exact same bayonet that he saw out there.

#3... The middle ribbon really looks like a West Wall to me. Does the one on the right have three faded colored stripes on a white background, or just two? #4... The ribbon in second place is the Hamburg Hanseatenkreuz, no doubt about that one. The ribbon in fourth place looks most like the Silesian Eagle. The placement would make sense too. No need for a long service ribbon, if he came into the war too late to have earned one. Perfectly normal combination.

My bad. I just wanted to try to keep the cops from kicking down your door.

I'll let someone who knows the laws in the UK speak to the specifics - but if this is a live fully-auto firearm that just came out of the woodwork, I'd advise discretion.

I had it back up on the other forum in 2004. Off the top of my head, I don't remember what the back looks like. I'll snap a picture when I get home from work this evening. Also, I found this one on my hard drive:

I haven't been able to figure out what the story with the Alfons ribbons is. There are a few different ribbons floating around out there. It seems like the ribbons only appear on the gold or the silver, but I'm not positive. Regarding the Alfons on the ribbon bar, if it were only one of the bars, it would almost seem more likely to be legit. Against regulations, of course, but one person's odd way of showing off their Alfons. With two bars now, it seems more like something that was done with some measure of official approval on some level.

I've wondered for years if there was some connection to that one, but without any actual evidence, I can't really go that far. The closest I've found is an example of a medal that uses the same ribbon as a different grade of the Alfons badge. It wasn't on a bar though. The fact is that there are at least two people that did whatever this is...

Visions of that ribbon continue to taunt me...

I can't find the picture at the moment, but I did see one bar with a dark purple brocade backing. Not sure what branch that points to...

Here's my one lone example. I've seen one other paired with a Baltic Cross, but I forget where...

Thanks for the help guys!!

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the specific regulation(s) that banned the wearing of most Freikorps and the other "vet awards" when the Hindenburg Cross came out? Thanks, --Chris

...and lastly, on the scabbard, a little bit of evidence that it's "been there".

#3

#2

Just picked this bayonet up this weekend, and I'm rather pleased. I've always had an attraction towards the red bakelite, and I finally nabbed one. Good shape other than having been sharpened. Blade is marked WKC, and there is a Waffenamt (WaA 253) on the base of the guard that apparently corresponds to that company from 1937-1940. Curious, in and of itself, as that seems too early for this type of handle from what I understand.

...and the hospital page. Any guesses what the handwritten (non-numeric) injury/illnesses are?

It looks to me like it was crossed out with a date annotation on August 20th, ten days after Volksbund shows that he was dead. From that, could I draw the conclusion that this was some sort of record of his weapon being recovered by his unit?

...and the second page of units. Can anyone make sense of the last Marschbtl. entry, and what is written underneath it (the Sutterlin followed by the "VIII")? He returned from leave in late May 44 via that Marsch Btl. Trying to figure out where he spent May through August of that year prior to his death.