S98/05aA bayonet

A New Tore’s Tuesday. This S98/05aA bayonet was made early in 1915. it is an unusual type, a high ears, no flashguard, bayonet. The spine has the monogram of Kaiser Wilhelm II, in this case as king of Prussia. However, it has a Bavarian partial unit mark: B.2.J. 464. So, it has moved about a bit. This bayonet was made for use on the long barreled Gew98 and therefore had no flashguard. This changed when use with the shorter Kar98A subjected the grips to heat and pressure and led to damages, therefore the flashguard was added on in later production. Also the high ears were omitted, they were not really needed for the Karaabiner. So, these are quite a lot less common than the later 98/05nA that were made in great numbers from late 1915 to 1918.