WW1 TURKISH ISSUED GERMAN ERSATZ BAYONET & SCABBARD SWORD RARE VINTAGE

Description

First World War made ‘Ersatz’ Bayonet with Scabbard.  Bayonet features an all metal grip assembly, with pierced rifle attachment ‘O’ ring. The guard is numbered 1636 and to the opposite side in Arabic script for Turkish issue. The bayonet release button works, with the grip assembly retaining some of the original green enamel finish.  The 31cm long steel blade shows the ‘blood groove’ to the centre of each side of the blade and light wear & pitting. The blade being factory sharpened only.  The metal scabbard retains the frog stud and some of the original green enamel finish, being free of dents and damage. Overall length: 44cm long. These emergency/end of war bayonets were made in the strictest sense of austerity in order to save on materials and for practical use as both a bayonet and fighting knife. These were shipped to Germany’s allies, such as Turkey, in order to keep their soldiers equipped to fight the allies and also to keep them in the war on the side of the Germans, who by 1918 were in a desperate way on the Western Front, being severely short of both men and material.