WW1 1918 Ehrfurt Luger w/ unit I.D.

[GustavIII]

I have a real nice 1918 Efrurt Luger with the following I.D. stamped onto the frame, just below the trigger guard -
J. J. R. 28. 11. K. 25.

Does anyone have any idea what it refers to? Soldiers initials w/ unit? Is there a way to trace this Luger to a certain unit? Thanks, Jack

[phild]

I have a real nice 1918 Efrurt Luger with the following I.D. stamped onto the frame, just below the trigger guard -
J. J. R. 28. 11. K. 25.

Does anyone have any idea what it refers to? Soldiers initials w/ unit? Is there a way to trace this Luger to a certain unit? Thanks, Jack

Are you sure that the first two characters are in fact J.J.?

Otherwise it would likely be a R for the first character and the pistol would be property of the 28th reserve Infantry Regiment, 11th company weapon number 25.

Very unusual for late war (or really even early war) weapons to be unit marked during the war.....but it did happen.......seemingly mostly when the sturmtruppen units were trained and equipped within the regiments in 1917-1918.

[GustavIII]

Thanks, Phild for the response. After looking very closely with a lupe and under better lighting, the first "J" is faint and doesn't have a "." after it. There is a gap between the 1st faint "J" and the 2nd "J". I also noticed that at the end, it has a "29" instead of a "28". After the first faint "J" (without a period after it) it reads
J.R. 82. 11. K. 29.. Thanks, Jack

[phild]

Understanding a good photo would be helpful, I would say that it is for infantry Regiment 28 (or 82 whichever is the number here) 11the company and then the weapon number.

I have seen Lugers with a least two previous regimental markings struck out and or scrubbed off....the later leaving ghosts of previous characters mixed in with the new markings....so some of this takes some experience.

[GustavIII]

Thanks again, Phild. I will try and post some pictures but it might take a few days. Jack

[lugernut]

As mentioned your unit marked 1918 Luger is considered rare. Since you have problems conveying exactly what the unit mark is a picture is a must for ID. If it's to the 28th RGT that is a good find most bring back Lugers for the 28th went to Canada because they were the ones who mostly battled with the 28th. I had a 1912 Erfurt with unit marks to the 28th MGK and that Luger came from Canada.

[GustavIII]

Thanks, Lugernut for replying. I made the mistake of reading the I.D. marks in dim light and posted the wrong information. After looking very closely, using a lupe and under better lighting, the first "J" is faint and doesn't have a "." after it. After the faint J, it reads J.R. 82. 11. K. 29.. - I googled "WW1 German 82nd Infantry Regiment and the first listing was for Wikipedia List of Imperial German Infantry regiments. When you scroll down to 82nd Infantry Regiment and look all the way to the right and click on X1 Army Corps, it gives the history of the unit from 1866 through WW1. I don't know if this refers to the I.D. on the Luger or not. Since I am a new member, it says that I can not post attachments at this time.

[phild]

The 82nd Inf Regt. was part of the 22 Infantry Div in WWI. Their history (from Wikipedia) is below:


"In World War I, again as the 22nd Infantry Division, it fought initially on the Western Front, including in the Battle of Liège. It was soon sent to the Eastern Front, where it remained until October 1917. It fought in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, and then participated in the Romanian Campaign. After returning to the Western Front, it saw action in the 1918 German Spring Offensive, including the Second Battle of the Somme and the Second Battle of the Marne. Allied intelligence noted that the division had good morale, but in 1918 rated it third class, albeit better on the defensive"


As can be seen, they would have had been contact with the AEF at times from the last 6 months or so of the war.

[GustavIII]

Thank you again Phild. I really appreciate your information. Wouldn't it be great if we could trace all the items in our collections? Imagine the stories our daggers, helmets and weapons could tell.