History

During the Third Reich, an effort was made to unite all of Germany’s disparate provincial police forces and agencies into a single cohesive national unit. To attain this goal, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior in June 1936. That same month, Himmler implemented new standardized uniforms, headgear, and insignia. The uniforms worn prior to Himmler’s appointment were often navy blue, particularly in what had been Prussia. The new uniforms were green, in a shade that was then dubbed “Police green”.

The German Police were divided into two main units, the Ordnungspolizei (Orps or Regular Police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (Secret Police); the Ordnungspolizei were unofficially called the green police (Grüne Polizei) as a result of their uniform colour. The Sicherheitspolizei were made up of two main organizations, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Investigation Police). At the beginning of the Second World War, the Sicherheitspolizei were brought under the auspices of the Reich Main Security Office.

The S 98/05 Police Bayonets were worn by all Wachtmeister ranked Police members who were not permitted to wear the police sword or sabre. They were also worn by Meister ranked personnel within the Rural Police (Gendarmerie) who were not mounted.

These bayonets were originally produced during the Imperial period and then reissued and reworked to fit the Weimar and Third Reich era regulations. These bayonets were meant to function as both tool and weapon, which is reflected in the wide width near the blade’s tip, the construction of the blade, tang, and pommel from a single piece of steel, and the inclusion of a long fuller on either side of the blade.

The majority of S 98/05 Police Bayonets used from 1919 to 1945 are identical, and typically, they can only be distinguished by the presence of very specific marks. The bayonets that were refurbished pre-1933 (Weimar era), may feature the stamp “1920” on the obverse of the crossguard, or unit marks on the reverse of the crossguard. The bayonets that were refurbished post-1933 (Third Reich era), may feature inspection dates on the flashguard dating from 1933 to 1945.

Similarly, it is very difficult to differentiate S 98/05 German Police Bayonets from other reworked Third Reich era S 98/05 Bayonets. The best ways to identify if an S 98/05 bayonet was used by the German Police pre-1935 is through the presence of police property marks on the bayonet or the demilitarization of the bayonet. Demilitarization attributes include a “V” notch ground into the top of the pommel, and/or the rifle lug slot was filled with metal, and/or the press release button was ground flush with the pommel surface. Post-1935, the S 98/05 Police Bayonets were refurbished again to facilitate their ability to attach to a rifle, or newly manufactured with the necessary attributes.

The handle of the bayonet is made up of the pommel, the grip, and the crossguard. The pommel has the form of a blunted beak. The grips generally have 9 diagonal grooves, although more grooves have been observed. The crossguard on these bayonets features one extending arm/quillon. The crossguard obverse may be stamped “1920,” while the reverse may be stamped with a police property mark. The unit mark may be featured on the crossguard or the hilt.

The blade, tang, and pommel were made from a single piece of steel, which was polished and blued during the Weimar and Third Reich era refurbishments. The blade ricasso may have a manufacturer mark. The manufacturer’s trademark, name, location, and date could be included in a single mark.

The scabbard is composed of steel, which tends to be blued for refurbished examples, with a frog stud on the obverse.

The frog is composed of brown leather and it attached to the wearer’s belt.

This bayonet may feature a variety of marks, including manufacturer marks, police property marks, and unit marks. When present, the manufacturer name and location are generally acid etched onto the ricasso. Additionally, Imperial era markings may be present on S 98/05 Police Bayonets that were refurbished and used during the Weimar era, and then again in the Third Reich era.

When the police property mark is present, it is generally located on the crossguard reverse or blade spine. The main types of police property marks featured on the S 98/05 Police Bayonets are “P”, “Pw.”, or “Po.” on the crossguard, and the police eagle with a “B” on the blade spine.

When present, the unit mark is located on the reverse of the crossguard, and/or the reverse of the scabbard, and/or the hilt. The unit marks are made up of a sequence of letters and numbers. The most common combination has the first letter associated with the police branch of service (i.e., S for Schutzpolizei), the next for the district (i.e., Mi for Minden), followed by a roman numeral for the duty station, and finally the weapon number in Arabic numerals; such as “S.Sch.I.492.”. These marks vary, wherein some will have cut out the duty station number, while others only indicate the district and weapon number in Arabic numerals, and some only have the weapon number. The unit mark may also be prefixed with the police property mark. Due to the mix-matching of bayonets and scabbards during the refurbishing process, the unit marks on the scabbard do not always match those present on the crossguard reverse.

The silver, red, and black portapee/sword knot was permitted for wear with the Third Reich era Police Dress and Service Bayonets.