Bayonet w/chain

[Rolly]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and quite a fresh collector. I got this german bayonet, but with a chain that I suspect is not original or is it?.
Can anybody tell me anything about this bayonet? The chain and the marks?

[Rich Yankowski]

Nice odd bayonet!It's sure not original,but somebodies idea of a fighting knife.The two marks on the center left picture are 'Waffen stamps',or approval marks.The center right mark is the maker,Herder.The bottom pic shows the 'serial' number.The chain is unknown to me.
Here's an odd 'fighting' knife I just picked up,an early sword by Eickhorn cut-down and put in an old Czech scabbard.

[Rich Yankowski]

Love those eyes!

[Skipper Greenwade]

Hi Rolly,

The chain is not original to the bayonet, but I would leave it as is...might well be a period modification by the original owner and, as such, a very interesting piece.

Best,
Skip

[AndyB]

chain

Hello, the chain was found on various 98k bayos, it was probably a upgrade for any dress function, it was found on any norwegian upgraded bayos, but its not certainly that this rework is norwegian. What for Year is stamped on rear of blade near crossguard? It was with bard? Andy from BCN

[Rolly]

Thanks for info guys. I'll leave the chain on, it's very well done.
Nice knife Rich.

What for Year is stamped on rear of blade near crossguard? It was with bard?

The year seems to be '39. What is "bard"?

[AndyB]

Bard

Sorry it was with scabbard (bard is a shortage)? Thanks for additional informations,Andy from BCN

[Rolly]

Ok. No I have no scabbard for it.

[jaeger_45056]

That is really cool, looks like a nice period modification. How is the chain attached to the pommel? Does it lock into the bayonet lug?

[Rolly]

The chain is attached by the piece of metal you see in pic, I can pull it out and insert it.
I have not tried to lock it into a bayonet lug yet.

[jaeger_45056]

Yeah but you can see it is made to work with the latch. My guess is some guy who knew what he was doing and worked in a machine shop came up with this. My grandpa a ww2 vet in the South Pacific did all sorts of things like this while working in a machine shop.

The chain is attached by the piece of metal you see in pic, I can pull it out and insert it.
I have not tried to lock it into a bayonet lug yet.

[Anthony D.]

I have a similar bayonet with the same chain configuration. It was also found in Norway. For many years, I tried to find out what it was for. A fellow collector in Norway told me that the chain was added after the war. There were 1,000's of bayonets and other surplus surrendered to the Norwegian government. After the war, some of these bayonets were used by the Norwegian Army and Home Guard, and some were sold by the government as excess surplus. One enterprising firm on the east coast of Norway (I can't recall the name at present) added these chains to the bayonets and sold them as fireplace pokers!! The chain was a fancy way of hooking it on to a fireplace stove and also helped to bypass the Norwegian law at that time for selling a weapon. Every house in Norway has a fireplace.

The rest of your bayonet and marks look fine.

[Rolly]

Very interesting information, thanks.