Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    WW1 frontline medic with huge knife - but what is it?


    Recommended Posts

    Hey all,

    just got this nice little picture - and I wonder what kind of knife this quite rough looking medic carries in his bayonet-sheath. It does not look official to me, more like a civilian (russian?) production? The card was sent from the Western Front on 24/8/15 by this man, Gefreiter A. Kettel of 12th company, Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 13, 13th Reserve-Division.

    Looking forward to any ideas!
    ArHo

    DSC01463a.jpg

    Edited by ArHo
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    ArHo ,strange thing indeed , to me he carries a circasian dagger into a bayonet sheat and frog ,notable also the handgun of the sanitater, a 1879 Reichsrevolver . Austro Hungarian medics carried the M1853 Pioniersabel , 1853 sappers sabre . a short  weapon heavier and with a wide blade . Perhaps your man served some time in the eastern front or cared some Russian POW 

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Bayern, thanks Circassian sounds interesting - I was irritated by the form of the handle I do not know from european bladed arms of the time. Russian was a "shot in the blue". Some caucasian arms I saw online looked very comparable. I will do some research, thanks again! Unfortunately this man is not in the Verlustlisten, and Prussian...

    Cheers

    Edited by ArHo
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    ArHo ,the circassian Kindjal was used by Cossacks , Turks ,Tcherkesses in Siria and Iranians . the handle is characteristic in form dont matter of which material is made .the blade is straight ,pointed and double edged and with fuller.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    • 1 year later...

    This does look a lot like a circassian Kindjal, but this is actually a private purchase knife made by Friedr. Kottenhoff, Gevelsberg. They were a prolific maker of trench knives, bayonets, and grabenkeule during WWI.

    Page below from Deutsche Kampfmesser by Eugen Von Halasz.

    2.thumb.jpg.d9399c536e0a5228a76a20195ec86bec.jpg

     

    1.png.b75dcc8dfcdafbfec470daa4fa8f3795.png

     

     

     

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    4 hours ago, Chris Boonzaier said:

    Guess I am gonna need to get that book... wow... would never have guessed that was an issue piece....

    It's a weird variant for sure, a member of another forum referred to it as the Rambo knife of its time lol.

    The book covers both WWI and WWII knives and is well worth the purchase, there's a second volume as well. I'd also recommend Deutsche Kampfmesser 1914-1918 by Christian Méry.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    @motojosh wow thank you, sir! This is a really interesting twist to the story. Ive been collecting pictures of trench knife wearers for some time but would never have guessed this huge knife would be something that was produced in larger numbers! Books are ordered ?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.