Police bayonet WKC

[Larry C]

Hello aalig50 Welcome to the forum.......post the rest of your daggers..we love to see them. Please post separately if you will the SA dagger and the 2nd Luftwaffe dagger in their appropriate sub forums...looking forward to seeing them. Regards Larry

[aalig50]

Larry,

Thank you! This forum is a great resource for collectors of anything Third Reich. Helped me with books I have to research and look at repos that could save us collectors alot of money and frustration lol. Im sure we have ran into that with this hobby of ours. Also having an tolerating wives if we have them lol. Mike

[Thanatos]

We either have tolerant and understanding wives or partners or we become dam good liars.

Nice Bayo.

All the best
Dave

[aalig50]

^ Isn't that the truth. My wife sees the value in them but rolles her eyes when my jaw drops at a piece I wanna buy haha.

[Larry C]

I made that mistake once a long time ago in a past marriage..now that I remarried...daggers now cost $175-200 dollars......at least thats what I tell her

[aalig50]

Lol if only mine didn't look at the bank account I could get away with that lol. But my wife supports my collecting cause I had a great grandfather in the Reich army so it's honor thing with collecting.

[Lakesidetrader]

Just to clarify here Krdeburca, the grip eagle displayed on your example starting this thread is one that was used later on private purchase Police Bayonets. It is IMHO just fine and exactly what one would expect to see on your example. 95% of Police bayonets out there were cut down examples from the Weimar period that were returned, reworked and reissued. On close inspection you will see that they are period shortened. Yours Sir, is smaller, lighter and more elegant than the cut down versions. Personally I would far rather be carrying it than one of those heavy early versions. Finally look at the blade, these Private purchase example blade are different than the cut down ones.

[Billy G]

Gentlemen,

Take note of Paul's observations so that you do not pass up a potentially legit bayonet in the future. The eagle shown by the original poster is known as a "wide-winged" eagle, typical of Polizei bayonets produced in the 3R. They are also made of aluminum like their earlier counterparts. The hilt of many of these later produced pieces are aluminum & much lighter in weight than the cut-down service models often encountered. There are no numbers or letters on this bayonet because it was likely a private purchase item, it will also not show any if the stampings on the spine that the Weimar produced cut-downs will often display.

The blade on this bayonet is typical of WKC with a narrow stiletto style blade, only WKC & Henckels were known to use this type of blade. Note the blood groove, it doesn't extend to the tip as you will see on a cut-down bayonet. That will usually tell you the bayonet was produced in the 3R. This is also a short blade model, presumably for an officer grade, scarcer than the longer models & quite nice.

Finding an orphan Polizei bayonet scabbard is not as difficult as one might think, they appear on Eban often enough. Finding an appropriate scabbard for this bayonet might be trickier since the blade is narrower & shorter than the cut-down variety. WKC also used different scabbard fittings than the other manufacturers, WKC's fittings were not scalloped like most other makers. That still wouldn't stop me from checking dealer sites & the auction sites, you never know & you might get lucky.

The bayonet has issues but is a nice representative item that has character. I'd put it up on a wall until you find a proper scabbard for it.

[timothy]

Aalig 50 that is a nice looking police bayonet you show it has the typical early "Starburst" police proof on the spine which most of them do I have owned only one eagle over B later police proof on the spine. Later proof is typical to 84/98 police contract bayonets. timothy

[Lakesidetrader]

There is an excellent Reference by George Wheeler, "The history of the German Bayonet 1919-1945" that is well worthwhile for someone wanting to learn more.
Finally there is a very useful thread over on GDC on Police bayo's that is also useful Police Bayonets - Eickhorns - GermanDaggers.com