Original Item: Only One Available. The K-98 dress bayonet was a dress version of the combat style, and was worn by enlisted and NCO personnel for dress and parade occasions. The bayonets were usually finished with a high-quality nickel plating, with stag or bakelite grip plates and black painted scabbard. The choice of blade length was left to the purchaser, either the nickel-plated short (20cm) or long (25cm) version. There was usually a red or green colored felt insert in the rifle slot and the bayonet was suspended from a black or brown leather frog. Some had a functional bayonet latch, while it was ornamental on some. Often they would also have a sword knot, or troddle, and the color would indicate the branch or rank.

This example is identical to the Heer Army type, but looks to be much more made for use than most dress bayonets. There is no nickel plating on the blade, and the hilt is made from steel with a black enamel finish. It also has a \”knife\” style blade with an upper false edge, and is fitted with lovely stag antler grips, retained by steel rivets dressed on the reverse. The bayonet catch is fully functional, and it even looks to have the cleaning rod channel, so it could have been fitted on a k98k rifle for use.

The blade is carbon steel, and in very good condition, still showing a lot of the original factory grind marks, though it does look to have been sharpened a bit. There is also some damage to the tip, but nothing that couldn\’t be sharpened out. There are some areas of staining, but no major pitting or other damage, though the leather blade buffer is missing, and did leave some oxidation behind underneath.

The reverse ricasso is stamped with the Carl Eickhorn \”Two Squirrel\” trademark over C.E., for manufacture by the legendary firm of Carl Eickhorn, located in Solingen, the \”City of Blades\” in Western Germany. Per J. Anthony Carter\’s book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this specific version of the mark was used on swords, \”walking out\” bayonets, and other similar items after 1906. This is exactly the mark that should be on an interwar Blade. This company was founded in 1865 by Carl Eickhorn, and is arguably the most famous of all Solingen makers. Not only could the family trace their history back 500 years, but they could also demonstrate involvement in the hardening and grinding industries for the same period. Truly the nobility of Solingen Edged weapon dynasties. Eickhorn edged weapons are the most desirable of all makers.

The scabbard is straight throughout with no dents we can see, the original black enamel paint finish is retained at over 95%, showing no real areas of loss. It has a fantastic pattern of crazing and checking due to age, showing that it has not been repainted at any type.

A great example of a German short 98k dress or \”walking out\” bayonet, complete with lovely staghorn grips and scabbard. Really a very interesting piece from the Pre WWII era!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 7 7/8\”
Blade Style: Single Edge w/ Fuller
Overall length: 12 5/8
Crossguard: 2 1/4
Scabbard Length: 8 3/4\”

The Forstverein (Forestry Association) was a civil union, founded in 1899, whose members were either Foresters or Forest owners and was founded to give more \”power\” to their interests when dealing with the Governments of the states or the Reich. Their \”targets\” were mainly economical with some \”spreads\” of caring for nature and forests. The aim of the association was: to take care of the German forest, the promotion of forest economy and science and the exchange of personal ideas. After the NSDAP took over Germany, the various Forestry Groups were folded under the NSDAP umbrella.

The Forstschutzkommando (FSK), or simply Forstschutz was a uniformed and armed para-military security formation raised in late 1939. Composed of some 10,000 volunteers, it was recruited from forestry officials and forest workers and headed by Landesforstmeister Ernst Boden. Hermann Gring, as the Reichsforstmeister, was its \”supreme commander\”.

After having received brief training, the first 2,000 so-called Forstschtzen were put into action in wooded areas in occupied Poland. Here, they provided security for lumber transports and -storage places and sawmills, as well as being employed to combat wood-thieves and poachers and to arrest \”unauthorized\” persons in the forests. They were authorized to use firearms in the case of resistance or attempted escapes.

In July 1941, the Forstschutz took charge of the Bialowies forest, a former hunting ground of the Czar and important area for the lumber industry. The civilian population was evacuated from Gring\’s new Reichsforst, with their villages and farms being burnt to the ground and two small Jewish communities being liquidated as well.

In the summer of 1942, Forstschutz units were dispatched to the Reichs Commissariats of \”Ostland\” and the Ukraine. Here, they were used in anti-partisan operations, suffering significant casualties in the process themselves.

Apart from their original security tasks and anti-partisan operations, Forstschutz personnel were involved in the capture and liquidation of Jews, who had managed to keep from being arrested or who had escaped from Ghettoes and were hiding in the forests. Apparently, Forstschutz men were also actively involved in the liquidation of Jewish Ghettoes if regular SS- and Police forces were not available.

Later, during the large-scale German fighting retreat, Forstschutz units even participated in military combat engagements in an infantry role.