That WWI German & occasional Austrian Trench Knife Thread

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

This month, a 210mm bladed WWI Austro-Hungarian Trench Knife with an "S" mark on the ricasso. Unfortunately, I have not the slightest of ideas who or what the "S" represents in terms of maker/manufacturer. I own several WWII German Trench/Fighting Knives with a similar "S" mark and the jury is still out as to who manufactured them. Eventually, this mystery will be addressed, but in any case still a nice solid example of this knife. The pictured (ground-dug) Austro-Hungarian knuckles were made by H. STEINBRÜCK (of) GRAZ. Until next month my friends!

Ciao,

Lance

Double click on images to enlarge.

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

This month yet another non-maker’s marked Leupold variant with a 147mm blade. This knife possesses an imperial inspector’s fracktur mark along with “Germany” stamped on its ricasso. The “Germany” stamping is an export mark’s requirement due to the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 (see post #28 of this thread for more about that requirement).

Because of that "Germany" marking, it is very likely this knife was exported to the US (or elsewhere) from existing stocks after WWI and as such, it has little chance of actually having being carried by a WWI German Soldier. That said, the knife also appears to have had some sort of insignia affixed to the top of its wooden handle due to the remaining holes located there.

Though this is a fairly generic pattern of knife, this version is quite substantial in the hand and possesses a nice heft to it. Notice too, the nine closely spaced diagonal cuts in the wooden handle, these are in a slightly tighter placement than is the norm. Lastly, as an example of a late war knife, the wooden slab handles have not been finished as thoroughly as earlier wartime’s examples.

This month’s accompanying period image is a concessionaire’s shop offering similar types of knives for sale. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to spend a few minutes in that shop.

Happy Hunting!

V/r Lance
Double click to enlarge image.

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

To this thread’s interested readers, I wished to create an awareness of a new book’s release. This is one of those limited production book’s runs that if you wait a few months they will all be gone and then, you will get to listen to others quote from a book that is no longer available in print or more likely, you’ll get to pay double for a used copy. These days, I live the latter’s outcome far more often than I care to admit.

I possess no affiliation with the author; however, I do proudly celebrate his other two previously published collector’s books. This second volume’s author is David Machnicki whose earlier works possess a scholarly, yet accessible treatment of their subjects simply because of the clarity of his explanations and the number of quality/rare images his works contain. This is one of those “perfect storms” of interesting/obscure subject covered by a demonstrated expert in the field.

For purchasing a copy, please follow the instructions in the below flyer and contact the author directly. When you ask “How much is a copy” the answer is: Pricing info is received directly from the author as viewed in the below flyer (I'm not yelling, I'm emphasizing). Note: I have not received my copy yet, but based upon the author's first two timeless works (which I purchased when released) I (highly) doubt any interested parties will be disappointed with the author’s latest efforts.

Stop reading this fan's ravings and contact the author, time now! Seriously, you will not regret obtaining a copy for your personal reference library (can you tell I’m excited about this book’s release?).

OK, I’m off my soap box/preaching complete, as I must away to buy more pointy things…. you can never have too many.

Cheers (& several Huzzahs!),

V/r Lance

Double click on the below image to enlarge.

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

Yes, I know, this is not exactly the correct forum for this particular book's subject matter, however most collectors know of Christian Méry's WWI German blades' collector's books. Trust me, if you own them, you're going to want to own this one too. Has one of my "White Wales" on display too, the after-market handle engraved presentation model Au Lion Mark I Trench Knife (click on the picture below and allow it to taunt you as well). Oooh the bad things, very bad things I would do to own one of those variants Wait, what were we talking about?

Cheers,

Lance

Double click to enlarge the image.

[MilitariaOne]

Happy Easter everyone,

Honestly, the first time I encountered one of these WKC’s variants; I had assumed, some backyard machinist was channeling their "inner Bubba" to repair a knife with a loose cross guard by peening a pin through the knife’s ricasso. In actuality, this was how this private purchased model left the WKC’s factory when the knife was originally manufactured. As cheesy as this peened pin in the ricasso appears, it’s effective as the cross guard remains quite secure. I chalk this unrefined variant up to the expediencies of late-war manufacturing requirements, where fast and rough took precedence over slow and pretty. Interestingly, this 132mm blade’s and handle’s styles became much more popular/prevalent during WWII (just minus the ricasso’s peened pin & with a straightened cross guard).

Unfortunately for this month's example, I do not possess a period image of this knife being worn.

Happy Hunting and until next month!

Best,

Lance

P.S. Yes, I realize I paired an Austrian Hares’ cannon up with a German knife. However, I felt the Easter greetings card’s theme went well enough with the knife’s image. BTW, don’t eat too much tonight.

Double click on image to enlarge.

[Anderson]

Interesting variant Lance. Happy Easter!

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

Nahkämpfer translates directly to “melee fighter,” however “close combat fighter” is closer in English to the German’s spirit of the term. This example, is by far one of the cheapest and lightest weight knives to be encountered by any serious collector of WWI German Pointy Things. This type/style of knife really came into its own after the war ended as a souvenir for Doughboys (or others) desperate for some tangible “swag” that they had actually served “over there.”

Many examples of this knife possess replaced wooden or other material’s (i.e. bone) handles as if you inadvertently drop the knife and one of its old-timey plastic handles lands on anything remotely hard, they will shatter/chip…. like I said earlier, “cheap.” This example’s blade is 153mm in length, but is slightly blunted and likely was closer to 155mm when new. Not a knife I would wish to use in combat, but as a letter opener it's just fine.

Examples of this style of knife are to be found with differing blade’s shapes. And too, with applied patriotic designs or even “Souvenir of Coblenz”; “Souvenir of Solingen” or other cities acid etched onto both sides of the blade. These examples are not fixable as like a bayonet to a rifle and possess an odd circular casting’s hole in the area where a fixable example’s mortise slot would be.

When you come across these knives, think post-war Army of Occupation and a timely German entrepreneur’s marketing ploy. Name a knife a “close combat fighters” and the knife will sell itself to an “occupier” desperate for a war-time souvenir and with little else “legal” to spend their money on;-)

Did these knives see combat in German hands? Perhaps, but I believe most were made for sales as post-war souvenirs to Allied Soldiers who arrived too late to see actual fighting or well after the armistice had went into effect.

Well, that’s all for now see you next month. Until then, happy hunting!

Best,

Lance

P.S. How desperate were Doughboys for souvenirs, especially post-war Doughboys? I have included a contemporary article from Memphis, Tennessee’s The News Scimitar dated April 18, 1919, (page 18), which well-articulates the fluid souvenirs’ economy for a group of newspaper reporters with the requisite funding to delve into this frenetic realm. Njoy!

Double click on images to enlarge.

[Anderson]

That's really interesting Lance. The post WW1 souvenir market is not fully appreciated these days, by many collectors. I would imagine along with scoring a German fighting knife the next "must have" was the German camo helmet, whether either was actually used during the war, of lessor importance, and people back home wouldn't know.

[MilitariaOne]

Greetings all,

This month, an Austrian Model 1917 Sturmmesser manufactured by Simon Redtenbacher Sensenwerke of Linz. Note the flared portions of the letter “R” not to be confused with the normal/standard appearing “R” trademark believed by some to be for the Resicka firm. This knife’s well-worn blade measures 122mm in length.

What makes this particular knife intriguing, is that a former owner customized the knife by carving a crosshatched pattern on only one side of the handle’s wooden grips. You may rightly ask yourself, “Why just on one side?” Because, during the hours of limited visibility this would allow the user to grasp the knife and due to the crosshatching’s indexing properties they would automatically know the orientation of the blade’s single cutting edge. In the darkness, this would spare the user from drawing the knife and using the back of the blade in lieu of the knife’s cutting edge (not a good move when attempting to slash a foe). Additionally, the crosshatched pattern also assists in giving the hand better purchase if the knife’s handle is damp. That said, I believe the single handle’s crosshatching was primarily done for the aforementioned indexing properties as what other reason would explain why better gripping properties were not added to both sides?

Lastly, these knives had a long service life in several countries’ militaries well after WWI and while this user’s modification may have been accomplished during WWI it is just as likely to have been done well after WWII. I doubt, I will ever know when this modification was completed, but it makes a fairly common knife just a tad bit more interesting.

Well, the hunt for militaria continues; may your hunt be fruitful too!

Best,

Lance

Double click on the images to enlarge.



P.S. Below, I have included a close-up of a current example of a reproduction (or in this knife's case Reprodukcji) using a spurious version of Simon Redtenbacher’s trademark (hailing from Poland). Note the clear, deep, and larger size of this reproduction’s take on Simon Redtenbacher’s trademark as compared to my above image’s smaller and less distinct (read: Original) example.

[Anderson]

Interesting example Lance, and a useful "heads up" on the repro.