German military daggers
John C Pursley continues his series on edged weapons of the Third Reich by looking at the daggers of the military
John C Pursley continues his series on edged weapons of the Third Reich by looking at the daggers of the military, including the Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.
The German capability to start another war was strictly contained after the end of WWI. In accordance with the Treaty of Versailles the Army was reduced in numbers. When Hitler achieved political power in 1933, he needed the support of the Army to carry out his plans, to which they agreed. In exchange for their collaboration, he promised to significantly increase the magnitude of the Army and, as a further enticement, played on the officer corps arrogance by offering increased promotional opportunities and other incentives such as newly designed uniforms, insignia, and personal awards.
Heer daggers
Among Hitler’s enticements was a new officer dagger designed and authorised in 1935 which was a totally new concept in the Army. In prior times, the traditional sidearm had been the sword, which was still authorised to be worn.
Despite the obvious physical difference between the two-edged weapons, swords were only worn in conjunction with dress uniforms and then only for formal ceremonial purposes, but the daggers could be worn while wearing the walking out uniform, thus providing more opportunities for wearing.
The standard Army dagger was worn by officers of all ranks, with the exception of Field Marshalls who had their own special design.
For the collector, the Army dagger is one of the most common military edged weapons available and although it is rather plain, is still appealing to the eye. One of the major distinguishing features is the cross-guard eagle and swastika design on the front.
The dagger was designed by Paul Casburg, an artist working for the Eickhorn manufacturing firm in
Solingen and has an overall length of 16in. Grips were offered only in white initially, but subsequently, two additional colour choices of yellow and orange were added. The spiral-wound solid plastic grip is held in place with a thin ferrule and a domed pommel, both adorned with oak leaves.
Because a great many firms manufactured Army daggers, the crossguard eagles varied from company to company and even within a single firm due to dies being replaced as they wore out from use over the nine-year production period. This means collectors should not hold fast to any one type of eagle shown in reference books thinking they are looking at the only legitimate example. The cross-guard, ferrule, and pommel nut were initially made of nickel, with a scabbard of steel having two decorative bands for holding rings to which the hangers were attached, all heavily silver-plated.
Army dagger stiletto-type blades are made of plated and polished steel. There are no markings as far as a motto is concerned but most blades do have makers mark on the obverse side of the blade near the cross-guard. However, there are some that are not marked, which does not make them necessarily questionable concerning authenticity.
The daggers when worn were suspended from a set of fabric hanging straps with metal fittings consisting of two catches and two oval buckles, both adorned with oak leaves and silver plated, but the deluxe model was coated with a gold wash. Hangers were available in several varieties depending on how much the user wanted to spend.
Topping off the dagger adornment was a silver cord portepee wrapped around the upper and lower portions of the grip and both sides of the cross-guard.
The quality of the daggers declined after the beginning of WWII when vital support materials became scarce and the skilled craftsmen were drafted into the Wehrmacht only to be replaced with new apprentices.
In lieu of nickel fittings, new alloys were used with zinc being the most common element. These fittings were lightly plated and most examples exhibit flaking or bubbling on the cross-guard and pommel. Applying metal polish such as Simichrome can help prevent further deterioration.
Later model steel dagger scabbards were lacquered and not silver plated.
Kriegsmarine daggers
The Army pretty much took the severe restrictions of the Versailles Treaty in stride when compared with the German Navy with regards to sustaining manpower and material resources. Their leaders took a more dissident approach and, in protest, scuttled the entire fleet in 1919 (the ships are at the bottom of Scapa Flow).
Although this may seem to be a selfdefeating act, in reality was a brilliant plan because that action destroyed the old and outdated vessels of the Imperial Fleet and permitted the Germans to design and create a modern Navy, although there was a 10,000-ton limit for any warship.
Naval command and its architects produced a class of fighting vessels it referred to pocket battleships, which were essentially smaller and lightly armoured versions of the larger ships fitted with 11in and 12in main guns. Although lacking the physical protection of the heavier ships, they were much faster and more maneuverable. During the 1930s, Deutschland, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee were launched.
After Hitler denounced the terms of the Treaty in 1935, Germany resumed construction of 46,000-ton battleships to include the Bismarck and Tirpitz. A massive program of building U-Boats also commenced during this time.
Naval officers were much more traditional than their Army counterparts and remained so after Hitler came to power. Unlike the land forces, the Navy officers had worn dress dirks (daggers) since the mid-1800s and utilised the same basic design in their 1938 version with the exception of changing the pommel from the flaming ball design (which replaced the Imperial crown model in 1919) to the eagle clutching a swastika in its talons. The Navy was the last of the armed services to adopt a dagger displaying the Nazi emblem.
All metal components of the Naval dirk were solid brass with the exception of the blade, which was steel. The scabbard was etched with lightning bolts fitted with two hanger loop crossbands bearing oak leaves. Another type of scabbard had a hammered finish collectors refer to as being pebbled with no etching and could have a twisted rope design on the crossbands. The cross-guard was decorated with a fouled anchor and balls on either end engraved with horizontal lines.
The majority of the blades were etched with a standard design of fouled anchors, but variations were available for purchase that included sailing ships, serpents, and surface warships. These examples are rare and sought after by collectors. Plain blade Naval dirks were also manufactured for lower budget officers.
The Navy dirk is the only sidearm fitted with a locking device consisting of a small brass stud in the centre of the cross-guard and a thin strip of metal incorporated into the tang which serves
as a spring-loaded catch. However, some were produced with no locking device, so the lack of the component does not mean it is not an original piece.
Several firms manufactured the Naval dirk, and these are the only sidearms with non-interchangeable blades. For example, if you have a dirk made by Alcosa, only its blade will fit into the hilt assembly.
The dirk originally offered a white celluloid grip with an option for one of ivory which, over time, can yellow with age and develop stress cracks that do not seriously affect their value. But, eventually, the grips were offered in the three standard colours and are grooved with double strand twisted brass wire wrapped clockwise from top right to bottom left.
The hanging straps are unlike those used by the Army in that both straps are not joined at the top and are significantly wider and differ in length. They are navy blue in colour, and each strap is fitted with a brass oval buckle adorned with lion head masks top and bottom.
A silver aluminum cord portepee was worn with the dirk and wrapped around the cross-guard in a very complex manner which is challenging for a collector to tie.
Luftwaffe daggers FIRST MODEL
After WWI, German military aviation was forbidden but the Flieger Korps (a glider club) and the Lufthansa civilian airline corporation provided flight training for future pilots. As he did with the Army in 1933, Hitler secretly developed a state-of-the-art military air force. Two years later, he formally organised the Luftwaffe as part of Germany’s rearmament programme.
As with the other services, a dagger was authorised for wear and at a length of 18.5in is by far the longest of the military daggers produced during the Third Reich period. In addition to the length, the striking features of this dagger is the three down swept, wing-shaped crossguard and sun wheel pommel. It was also designed to encompass four swastikas.
Adding to the beautiful features of this dagger is the dark blue leather covered grip wrapped with double strand wire fitted into the grooves and a scabbard complimented with nickel silver fittings.
The blade was a double-edged stiletto type and early versions of the first model featured brass swastikas inlaid into the sun wheel and cross-guard. This was the only dagger manufactured encompassing permanent suspension hangers made of
chain vice cloth. A spring-loaded catch was used to join the two ends of the chain together and also served as an attachment to the wearers belt loop.
In 1936 the material composition of the fittings was changed to aluminum to match those used in the construction of airframes and the brass inlaid swastikas were changed to a gold wash finish.
SECOND MODEL
The second pattern dagger was 2in shorter than the first model with metal fittings cast from aluminum. The entire front of the cross-guard consisted of an eagle with wings outstretched holding a swastika in its talons with the reverse side having a pebbled finish with no decoration. The top of the cross-guard displays oak leaves.
The cellulite dagger grip was grooved to hold the spiral wound, three strand wire and was offered in the three standard colours. There was also an option to purchase ivory grips. Blades were doubleedged stiletto models with a flat central plane and personnel could purchase a Damascus or etched finish.
The most unique feature of this dagger is the pommel which is roughly shaped in the form of an oblong ball containing a swastika within a circle on both sides and the remainder ornamented with oak leaves. The swastika was originally finished in a gold wash, but on most daggers, has worn off over time. Some believe the gold swastika represented a general officer, but that not true.
The pebbled finished scabbard has a smooth panel in the centre running about ¾ of the length where it is met with an oakleaf decorated lower section. There are also two scabbard bands with hanger rings in an oak leaf motif.
The hangers are similar to those worn by Army personnel and the fittings may still retain their gold wash. This was a purchase option and does not represent the rank of a general officer. A silver cord portepee was also used on this dagger.
Unlike other service daggers, the Luftwaffe model was worn by both officer and senior enlisted personnel, and all military daggers regardless of service were private purchase items. After 1944 daggers were no longer produced and forbidden to be worn. The standard sidearm became a pistol. ■