My Full SA Rohm

[VGJ5]

Hello,

I inherited my collection of WW2 memorabilia about 5 years ago (some items earlier) from my grandfather. Each piece was directly brought back to the U.S. by my grandfather at the end of the war.

One of the edged weapons that he brought back was an SA Rohm dagger (made by Eickhorn). I just started learning about the history of this knife over the past few days (from posting it on another site, google-searches, etc.). I knew that this knife was somewhat special because my grandfather told me (before he died) that Rohm was executed. What I didn't know until a few days ago, and what I'm pretty sure my grandfather never knew, is the information about the grinding of the inscription.

Anyway, I've kept it in pretty good condition over the years. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have oiled it and treated it more like a diamond years ago (as I will from now on). Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Gaines

[locloc08]

Beautiful rare dagger. I inherited a humble HJ dagger from my granddad a little while back, which got me into militaria collecting, really. Unfortunately, all the more desirable items (including an SS NCO visor ) he had collected during the war were stolen from him in a hospital in England.

Do you know how and from where he acquired it during the war?

[Adept]

that is one rare beauty, i am glad to see such an item at least in photos. thank you for posting.

[Alan M]

absolutely fabulous example , congratulations on inheriting such a beauty ! all the fits on the grip to crossguard are there , and doesn`t look like it`s ever been taken down . The inscription is super , i love it , and congrats on some good photography

[AZPhil]

That is Beautiful!
Thanks for sharing

[85ronnies]

thats a very nice example you have there VGJ5 very nice indeed

[zwerge]

They don`t come any nicer than that..

[VGJ5]

Thanks for all the comments! Those good pictures only resulted from me taking several bad pictures along the way (I'm not a camera guy).

Locloc08, I'm not exactly sure how and from where he acquired it. He told me a few different stories about the items that he brought back:
1) He acquired some of them from factories of towns they took. Some of these items are obvious. For example, the two bayonets are almost 100% intact, including the RED felt plug in the back hilt, with the exception of some sort of black plastic that got on the back hilt of the long one. Another example are two crosses (with a blue/black enamel swastika in the middle) that they awarded to women that had a lot of babies (these have the presentation boxes and documentation, attached ribbons, etc.). I’m not sure if the Rohm knife came from a factory, but I don’t know why a 10-year-old knife that should have been altered or destroyed would have been sitting in a factory at the end of the war.
2) When the allies would enter a town, the citizens had to turn over their weapons. I’m pretty sure this is the way he got his Luger, but not sure about the Rohm knife. This would make more sense to me than the previous source, because someone might have hid his dagger from destruction. Then again, why would someone risk execution by hiding his dagger, just to hand it over when it could have been hidden again?
3) I know he took one of the knives off of a (possibly dead) soldier. My mom thinks that this is where the Rohm dagger came from. She seems to remember him saying that the Rohm is the one that he took off a soldier, but I thought he told me it was the RAD Hewer. The Hewer has far more wear, so it makes more sense to me that it’s the Hewer.

I'm going to try to narrow down and possibly positively identify the source, via his scrap book and some notes he took during the war. The scrap book and the majority of the items my grandfather left me are locked-up at my parents' house, still in my grandfather's old army bag (I've kept them there, due to lack of sufficient safe space at my house). I'll grab the bag the next time I'm over there too, and post some pictures of the other goodies (armbands, aviator helmets, a motorcycle glove, german binoculars, some scopes, medals, etc.).

Thanks,
Gaines

[António Fragoeiro]

Hi, cant wait to see those photos.
Cheers.
Nuno

[locloc08]

I'm going to try to narrow down and possibly positively identify the source, via his scrap book and some notes he took during the war. The scrap book and the majority of the items my grandfather left me are locked-up at my parents' house, still in my grandfather's old army bag (I've kept them there, due to lack of sufficient safe space at my house). I'll grab the bag the next time I'm over there too, and post some pictures of the other goodies (armbands, aviator helmets, a motorcycle glove, german binoculars, some scopes, medals, etc.).

Thanks,
Gaines

Best of luck in your search friend. It sounds like your grandfather was able to hang on to quite the treasures. Might we see the RAD hewer?