Help on SA brigade stamp please!

[Walkwolf]

Looks to be an original replacement, but likely done to restore
the dagger in more recent times I'd guess.........

[Larry C]

Hi Novalyfe,, Walkwolf and Ade are correct about the grip eagle. It is a total refit, as I see woodfiller in the areas around the top of the eagle. All early grip eagles were made of Nickel silver. The dagger itself is not a transitional, as the eagle is the only item in question. Transitional is a term more understandable as a graduation of time moving towards the late years. Transitional daggers had a mix of parts,, with a nickel and pot metal combination,, which pot metal was the cheaper variety. After 1938,, the solid nickel parts were hardly seen as so was the craftmanship that also went out the window. You have a good dagger in your possession. EP&S ( Ernst Pack & Son ) was sharing the #1 position with Eickhorn in making great quality daggers. There have been instances,, and ever so VERY rarely that alluminum Crossguards have been seen on a couple of makers.
Nice to see brigade stamped numbers on a crossguard is it brings closer the identity of the SA Mann, but unfortunately to this day there has been no service list found for SA men,, just a few scattered partial lists that might of been found,, in certain SA districts,, from liberating vets.
You have a nice crossguard to grip fit that is tight!! Good to see that! Nice heavy guards also. The grip is also a typical Pack! Great dagger with a replaced eagle. Regards Larry

[n0valyfe]

So this is all original except the eagle? Worth the £480 I paid for it?

[Larry C]

The eagle is also original but not belonging to the early time period. Still you have a great dagger

[n0valyfe]

So an RZM?, thankyou so much for the insight! <3

[Adrian Stevenson]

Yes, an original dagger but fitted with a replacement later quality RZM eagle.

Cheers, Ade.

[n0valyfe]

Thank's so much for the amazing info! You guy's have put my confidence back into my collecting. One last question, why is there a RZM eagle in it anyway? Did they replace the eagle's during the war if they got damaged? Was it common?

[Andrew]

i'd say chances are the eagle was removed as denazification,( it was very common). and it was just replaced at a later date by some one that did not understand is should be nickel not aluminum. great looking dagger though.
andrew

[Frogprince]

i'd say chances are the eagle was removed as denazification,( it was very common). and it was just replaced at a later date by some one that did not understand is should be nickel not aluminum. great looking dagger though.
andrew

That seems to be the most common explanation for the removal of just the grip eagles, which also seems to be seen to some extent with the broken off cross guard swastikas on Army and other daggers (etc.) With what I found of some interest with this dagger being that while later on there were some restrictions placed on what kinds of wood could be used for grips. With some of the earlier daggers we see other multiple types of wood that were used to manufacture grips. With the one here looking a lot like European Beech that is seen with some types of bayonets (but not the SG 84/98 - 98K), and some of the different Mauser and Lee Enfield rifles as gunstocks. FP