The bayonet initially issued for use with the G98 was a long thin
affair, an attempt to counter the French "distance" advantage (caused
by the bayonet on their Lebel rifle). It was established that this
long slender bayonet broke easily so it was replaced by the saw-back.
When this was withdrawn and replaced by the model of bayonet which was
later adapted for use with the K98, existing stocks of the longer
bayonet and the saw-back were adapted for use in other areas. For
example, I have a 1903-dated slender bayonet which has obviusly been
shortened and which was apparenty issued to pioneer units and also
used for trench raiding. It is in a scabbard which has been throated
for the thinner blade. Apparently. As far as I know, the saw-backs
were re-issued for use by combat troops after the saw-back had been
ground off. I think a friend of mine has an example of this type of
adaptation. However, since all this happened a century ago, and since
the partial destruction of the German National Archive by allied
bombing in 1945, we really cannot be absolutely certain. My own
Mauser K98 (made in 1937) will take any sort of German bayonet
manufactured for the G98 or K98, and even for the Yugo. But in war,
all sorts of things are used for purposes which were never intended -
entrenching ools, for example, used as makeshift axes, and so on.
On Fri, 16 Jan 2015 10:28:59 -0600, BRIAN P EHNI <bpehni@gmail.com>
wrote:
>On 2015-01-16 13:07:40 +0000, Harry R Jumpjet said:
>
>> I came across a reference to this bureau some time ago, and discovered
>> that the bureau was set up under the Geneva Convention. It followed a
>> precedent estabished in WW One. There is a mechanism whereby enemy
>> forces can complan that their opponents are not "playing the game",
>> and can make a compant. This is done through a neutral power , and a
>> good example of this is the complaint made in WW One against Germany
>> regarding the use of the "saw-back" bayonet by Imperial German trops.
>> The Bayonet was sunsequently withdrawn from use. In the Second EWorld
>> War, complaints usually referred to atrocities being committed against
>> enemy combatants or prisoners of war. I hope that this post does not
>> result in a gegeral argument about German and/or Russian behaviour in
>> the war - I am simply makig the point that the bureau existed, and
>> investigated allegations of war crimes committed by and against
>> members of the German armed forces.
>>
>> There is an interesting book - see the following internet references:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wehrmacht_War_Crimes_Bureau,_1939-1945
>>
>> http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7362616
>>
>>
>> Finally, was it not Churchill who said that if you have to kill a man,
>> it costs nothing to be polite?
>
>I have one of these bayonets. I was given to understand that they were
>issued to "pioneer" troops only for cutting down trees and similar uses.
>
>Brian Ehni
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