This is Orginal : where has it been in the war ?
Yes its an original German K98k bayonet manufactured by E. Pack & Sohns. The scabbard is non matching and so as for value its not worth a great deal. Also it is highly inadvisable to remove the grips on a bayonet. hope I was of some assistance.
Thx
Hi Alexander welcome to the forum. According to your title of where the bayonet has been..... would be impossible to say. Although it appears to have been in battle..somewhere..as the bayonet is worn down..and has that used look to it. Still it has character..and previous ownership is obvious. The mismatched scabbard as Member "Panzer" points out...slightly detracts from the whole worth of the bayonet...especially for those who collect these types. Mismatched scabbards could of been replaced during the time or recently. Another thing I noticed is that one of the screws from the grip plates appears to be newer...which also tells the collector..that this has been opened before.....OR.....maybe put together at some point in time.
For these type of bayonets and the condition they are in.....it would not be necessary to take apart the bayonet. The numbering on the blade and scabbard..identifies for the members here....the producer and authenticity. Sharp eyes and study..does not need to take a apart a bayonet..or any other type of edged weapon. If an edged weapon appears to be questionable on the outside where as no one could give a definitive answer...a possible look inside would be the next step. Only as a last resort. Enjoy your stay here on the forum..and check out some of the threads in the K98 section. Alot of good reading and information from some of the greatest minds in the hobby.Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!- Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
I agree with all of the above. As far as it having been in a war, of course it has, but keep in mind, that bayonets were not the crucial bits of military weaponry that they were in WWI. In the 1st World War, bayonets were Extremely heavily used and if you have one from that era, it's more than a good bet that it's been violently used, but by WWII, the use of the bayonet was greatly reduced and killing depended more on gun fire rather than charging at the enemy with a big blade stuck on the end of your rifle. In many cases, by WWII bayonets could be found doing all sorts of duty and in many cases, more like tools than weapons. This is not to say that no one ever got killed with one in WWII, which of course they Did, but more likely a bullet did the task. Bayonets could and did alot of "coup de grace" acts as well. A shame that this one is mismatched to a sheath it wasn't issued with, and as Larry said, it looks like a grip screw may have been changed, so the collector value of it is fairly low, but still it's a nice thing in a collection and was carried all throughout Europe and where ever it's owner was sent. And, as the guys said, Don't take it apart anymore! It's a very easy way to damage the grip panels that are over 70 years old now! It's just safer to leave them be at this date.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Agree with you totally Wagriff I just thought I might add to it most reading I have done and talking to Pacific vets my uncle included vet of Luzon, Boreno, New Guina all talk about Japanese Banzi attacks with bayonets I suspose if you look at period pictures I would have to think Imperial Japanese Soldiers used them the most but as you say most would be killed of course by gunfire. BTW Aleksander nice s84/98 cul=E Pack & Sons as stated timothy
Wagriff-I think you may have overestimated the importance of the bayo in modern warfare ie since rifles and artillery were both long ranged and rapid firing (let alone MGs)-even by the time of the US Civil war, bayonets were regarded as an outmoded weapon, many being used as camp equipment or hardware implements rather than for fighting. The rise of the trench knife, often made from cut down bayos indicates how encumbering having 18 or 24 inches of bayonet was in actual combat use, especially in confined spaces.
Indeed bayonets were used infrequently used in WWII, but it isn't unheard of. I was talking to a veteran not too long ago who told me when he was in Caen bayonet attacks by the Germans were fairly commonplace in the close quarters fighting. He went as far as to give me step-by-step instructions how not to get bayoneted by the "big black suckers on the ends of the Gerry rifles".
Standard operating procedure for the Japanese was fixed bayonets in combat and a lot of training in their use. With the Germans who appreciated the potentially adverse impact on accuracy perhaps a little less prone to fix bayonets when not in close contact. Making their decisions in the field as seen with this picture of what appears to be a brief respite in the fighting, whereas some other period photos show bayonets in combat still in their scabbards. Best Regards, Fred
There is no such city of Danzig but the Polish city of Gdańsk.
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