Rlm 98 / 05 butcher bayonet

[Milton]

Hello folks. Just thought I'd toss a couple of shots of a very nice Reichs Luftministerium Bayonet up for your perusal. BEAUTIFUL blued blade & hilt surfaces, w/ saw-back spine having been removed prior to refinishing. The spine markings are mostly gone, but the obverse ricasso has a very neatly stamped "R.L.M" as the photo will attest. The reverse ricasso still bears the Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf a/N. stamp. The scabbard retains its Imperial cypher at the throat but is otherwise unmarked. First of these I've come across....

[Milton]

Beautiful blade...

[Milton]

"R.L.M" markings.

[AndyB]

Nice piece, is there 1920 stamp on crossguard? thanks,Andy

[Richie B]

Milton

Interesting to see these bayonets.

Some variations on RLM stamp position exist - pommel and crossguard as well as the blade. Some have an associated serial number.

Very nice piece.

Regards

Richie

[Milton]

Thanks Ritchie. Yes, I've seen some of these variations in the books I own relating to III Reich bayonets. To answer Andy's question, there isn't any Weimar 1920 inventory stamp on this one, however. In fact, I have several re-issue 98/05's (one of which I got personally from a 91 year old friend who served w/ the 36th F.A. and picked it out of a pile of cast off German equipment on the side of an Italian road). None of them have the 1920 inventory stamp on them. One in fact, is TOTALLY devoid of ricasso or spine markings, having only twin Imperial cyphers on the reverse pommel face. These are interesting bayonets to collect, no doubt!

[jwh44]

Hi Milton

There is also a very rare variation of the RLM marking which is stamped on the flashguard.
jwh44

[collecter]

Very nice,I dare say you know that the Imperial markings are King ludwig III of Bavaria 1913-1918.

[jwh44]

Hello

I know it is bavarian. The crossguard is also stamped 1920. It is a reuissued bayonet from the Reichswehr era. This bayonet has been in the army forces for a long time !!

jwh44

[REMUS]

Great piece

[rajko84]

nice looking bayonet

[Sleepwalker]

Hello,

the RLM marked bayontes belongs not to the "early or a hidden Luftwaffe". I often ask who create such kind of storys with any proof or inverstigations... and others believe this.

Informations aobout german organistions are imported. Die "Hidden Luftwaffe" was the DLV (Deutscher Luftspotverband). They ase knifes and daggers but no Bayontes.

After the Luftwaffe was introduced in 1935, it was a Part of the Wehrmacht. Small arms were issued over the Waffenamt, not the RLM.

The RLM or LS marked bayontes belongs to the Sicherungs- und Hilfsdienst (SHD) of the Luftschutz (L - eagle - S means Luftschutz... not "Luftwaffenschule"... a Luftwaffenschule never exist!! another example of the lack of information about German units or organisation)
The Luftschutz was armed in the Beginning of WWII. The SHD was transformed 1942 in the Luftschutzpolizei. They use also old and captured foreign small arms.

Early examples were not blued. The early ones has RLM markings on the top of the pommel or the crossgured.

Blued ones has RLM markings on the crossgurd, the fleshguard (most in combination with a PW stamp on the crossguard = commojn marking for Polizeiwache) or the blade and the LS Marking n the grossguard.

Also the matching frogs to this bayontes were stamped with RLM and LS. The Production of this frogs were in the years 1941 and 1942 (same time as the Luftschutzpolizei was formed). So IMO the main time of getting this equipment was 1941/42.

Regards