landsknechte

Apart from the stamp, the book looks good. There were a few other personal documents included with the lot as well.

That's what I feared....

Does anyone have any clue what this might be?

"Then I will show you where the cardboard crosses grow." Just ain't the same.

I know this is rather odd, but if anyone knows where to purchase this stuff at reproduction prices, let me know. I know of more than a few reenactors that would be interested.

Can you see if there is a Georg K?stner in there?

I'd love to see the "history" that would be attributed to this one by Charles Snyder.

You might have some luck in the vintage section of this forum: http://forums.timezone.com/

What's the medal in first place on that bar?

Thanks!

From looking at the boards that are out there, it appears that only Unteroffizers and above had the metal regimental number devices. Was there a regulation that prevented lower ranking soldiers from wearing them, or was it simply a matter of expense (or something else)?

Three ribbon bars... The matched pair of them were obtained from two different dealers on two different continents... Been trying to ID that ribbon four the better part of four years now... If you'll excuse me, I have to go scream and then bang my head against something until I lose consciousness. ttfn, --Chris

Don't pack cat and militaria in the same box.

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.