Luftwaffe LW survival machetes

[François SAEZ]

Work in progress

[François SAEZ]

Maker mark encountered on survival machete of the LW

[François SAEZ]

NCO examining one

[François SAEZ]

Bag where the surviving equipment and the machete are kept in the plane

[François SAEZ]

more

[François SAEZ]

A wedge shaped edged weapon of the 3rd Reich, is the broad, bolo shaped survival machete used by the Luftwaffe. The breakthrough towards positive identification occurred, when an unknown photograph was found in a 1942 issue of ?Die Woche? (Berlin, issue 6, 11 February 1942) that not only shows the machete, but also its intended use. A copy of the photograph from ?Der Woche? is included in this volume. The magazine describes the machete as a ?survival axe the can be found on board of the He 111 bombers that serve on the eastern front?. The machete formed part of a larger survival kit that was used on board of planes. Although the machete was normally not worn at the hip, the survival kit included a holster in green canvas. The only known maker of this sidearm is the large Solingen manufacturer of edged weapons from, Alexander Koppel (Alcoso).

[François SAEZ]

.

[nesredep]

Hello!

Wow,nice.Thanks for share.

All the best

Nesredep

[norwest78]

Excellent! I always thought the brass fittings looked classy. Nice period photos, too. Do you have the originals?

[JoeW]

Francois, perhaps it would be good to provide the source of the information and photo from the "Die Woche" photo you provided above? Ltc. Thomas Johnson published it in his book Collecting the Edged Weapons of the Third Reich Volume III, page 103-104.

Notice the Alcoso trademark variations. Can the manufacture be dated from the use of AWS or ACS? Here is another variation of the steel handle model shown by norwest78 in this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=24518&hl=machete

Mine is has a very worn steel handle but the blade has a saw tooth back like the butcher bayonets of WWI. The frog is leather and appears to be Dutch from markings on the reverse.

[François SAEZ]

Francois, perhaps it would be good to provide the source of the information and photo from the "Die Woche" photo you provided above? Ltc. Thomas Johnson published it in his book Collecting the Edged Weapons of the Third Reich Volume III, page 103-104.

.../...

Thanks for that remark, I would have done it if I had the info - sadly I only had a scan of the page of the book you mentioned, meaning that without the right information, better give none.

But all in all it is fine as you now have given it - thanks for that

[JoeW]

Here is a photo of the logo of my sawtooth variation. The steel handle variations are not common either. The article I cited above showed a steel handle machete in the canvas frog that was credited to the collection of Patrick Caldwell. Norwest78, do you know if perhaps that was the source of your example? Is it marked with a LW acceptance stamp?

Francois, do your brass examples bear any acceptance markings for the LW? My steel version is unmarked, so it was used for commercial purposes or......?

[JoeW]

Here is a group shop of my three machetes out of scabbards. The two brass are identical and bear the acceptance marked Eagle/B. I believe these are very scarce pieces that because of size, looks and use are not considered as attractive or collectible as daggers or swords.

Edited April 27, 2008 by JoeW

[François SAEZ]

.../...

Francois, do your brass examples bear any acceptance markings for the LW? My steel version is unmarked, so it was used for commercial purposes or......?

Both are gone now, so I can not check

[JoeW]

Dommage. The one machete had rosewood grips? Not serrated?

[JoeW]

Dommage. The one machete had rosewood grips? Not serrated?

[norwest78]

... The article I cited above showed a steel handle machete in the canvas frog that was credited to the collection of Patrick Caldwell. Norwest78, do you know if perhaps that was the source of your example? Is it marked with a LW acceptance stamp?

Hi Joe,

There is no acceptance stamp on mine, and I don't know of any association with Patrick Caldwell. Great set you have there!

[JoeW]

Are there any machetes known to have a LW acceptance stamp? The machete in the Die Woche photo spread did not have a frog on the scabbard. Or perhaps the LW purchased on the commercial market for the emergency kits and didn't bother procurement/acceptance? But the Survival drillings are LW accepted. I imagine the police accepted machetes were for the survival kits of their air crews.

Edited April 28, 2008 by JoeW

[Chris Boonzaier]

Just a thought... maybe the original text would be interesting... it seems to imply (in the translated) that these were used only on He111 on the Eastern Front... very often the original texts are not 100% like we see them translated.

I am guessing it may say they were used on he111 on the eastern front but in no way excluding other theaters.

best

chros

[JoeW]

I think you are right on Chris. Notice the difference between the bag in Francois's photo and the wooden box used in the Die Wochephoto. That kit included snow shoes and such for winter operations. I will look for that article that I have somewhere.

[lee hop]

Francois, perhaps it would be good to provide the source of the information and photo from the "Die Woche" photo you provided above? Ltc. Thomas Johnson published it in his book Collecting the Edged Weapons of the Third Reich Volume III, page 103-104.

Notice the Alcoso trademark variations. Can the manufacture be dated from the use of AWS or ACS? Here is another variation of the steel handle model shown by norwest78 in this thread: http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=24518&hl=machete

Mine is has a very worn steel handle but the blade has a saw tooth back like the butcher bayonets of WWI. The frog is leather and appears to be Dutch from markings on the reverse.

I also have a saw tooth LW machete. Does any one know if there are harder to find and if they are worth more?

[lee hop]

Work in progress

I also have a LW saw back machete and would like to get a frog for it, any suggestions?

[norwest78]

The sawback versions are less common, but I haven't seen them sell for more than the straight back version. They are both scarce. Frogs are extremely difficult to obtain -- good luck!

[nesredep]

The sawback versions are less common, but I haven't seen them sell for more than the straight back version. They are both scarce. Frogs are extremely difficult to obtain -- good luck!

Hello!

I agree,extremely difficult to obtain.

All the best

Nesredep

[lee hop]

The sawback versions are less common, but I haven't seen them sell for more than the straight back version. They are both scarce. Frogs are extremely difficult to obtain -- good luck!

I got my LW sawback version from Czech Rep, but it didnt have a scabbard. I contacted a dealer who had a standard machete for sale and asked if he would be interested in selling just the scabbard, he replied yes so I got it. I will have to try the same for the frog...

Thanks for the reply