G 98 / 05 Bayonet

[OLD ROBIN HOOD]

Greetings from the Royal Forest of Sherwood.

 

Last Sunday after hearing Friar Tuck say Mass, I left the safety of the forest and journeyed down the Great North Road to the town of Newark upon Trent to attend the Militaria Fair.

Here I purchased a G 98 / 05 n A  "Butcherknife" bayonet in "as found" condition.  It is interesting in that each side of the ricasso is marked with a different makers name. I know that this is not

particularly rare as I have seen them before, but not for quite some time. One of the markings is Deutsche  Maschinenfabrick  A-G  DUISBURG  and the other H. MUNDLOS & Co MAGDEBURG.

The back of the blade is marked W 17. 

 

Whilst I have collected bayonets for many years I have never really understood why some German bayonets carry two maker marks.  Was it that one company made the blade and another

assembled the bayonet?  All comments welcome.

 

                                                                                     Old Robin Hood.

 

 

 

 

[zuluwar2006]

very nice,

exellent choice

regards

d.

[trajan]

Yes, a nice one - especially nice if you think that's 'as found' condition!

 

Ok, so there ARE exceptions to the rule. However, the evidence suggests that the original blade maker stamped on the left-hand side, and the bayonet 'finisher' on the right - certainly, in most / all cases where a bayonet blade has a single maker's stamp it is on the left. But exceptions to the rule include double-stamps on the same side, and ERFURT, who - if I recall correctly, sometimes / often stamped on the right.

 

Now, we simply do not know what the second stamp on the right actually mean and bayonets from s, the term 'finisher' being an all purpose catch-em to cover all, e.g., fitting the grips, final polishing, etc., but is is generally agreed that the first stamp (left) indicates who made the original blade in its relatively raw form. The problems with that explanation arise when we get some makers who apparently switch functions, as it were. That is to say, company A might usually stamp the left side and company B the right, but then we find bayonets with company B stamps on the left and company A on the right...

 

With yours, the DEUTSCHE MASCHINENFABRIK and MUNDLOS combination is well known, with MUNDLOS on the right, all apparently 1917, except for one of 1915. BUT, there is at least one recorded example with the marks reversed, MUNDLOS on the left and DEUTSCHE MASCHINENFABRIK on the right... A puzzle, not helped by the almost complete lack of knowledge of what MUNDLOS produced prior to WW1. DEUTSCHE MASCHINENFABRIK, on the other hand, were a well known maker of cranes, boring machines, etc., who turned to making trench-knives and bayonets in 1914.

 

Julian 

 

 

[OLD ROBIN HOOD]

Greetings from the Forest

Zuluwar and Julian.  Glad that you like my bayonet, When I said that it was "as found " I meant that it has remained uncleaned for a very long time. I don't know about you

good folk but I hate to see bayonets or swords that have been subjected to a session with the buffing wheel, all of the original finish and the patina removed.

They may look nice and shiny but all the character has gone.

Anyway I am most grateful for the information, very many thanks

 

                                                                                                  Robin