Right! It would appear that Tore’s Tuesdays are now an official thing here. I will focus mostly on obscure stuff, I do have a bit of that… Since my first two blogs were Ersatz blogs, I will start by showing a really special ersatz bayonet, but in the future there will be lots of other stuff, not just blades.
This Ersatz bayonet, Carter EB46, has a lot of history to it, much more documented history than most, and is as such totally unique! I will explain. There are three distinct chapters in this bayonets life.
It started as an ersatz bayonet made during the hard times when Germany’s manufactures had to switch to wartime production. (For more about the whys and wherefores, see my previous blog about German bayonets.) Many of the ersatz bayonets were made by companies with limited production capacity and are therefore quite rare, – this one is one of those, a very rare one. It had originally a muzzlering which has been removed, most probably by the Germans for use on the Kar98A rifle. So, a German WWI bayonet at first.
However, Germany’s ally, the Ottoman Empire, was struggling, and except for some aid in 1914, it had been impossible for Germany to send arms to their aid by sea. With Bulgaria coming into the war it became possible from 1915 on to send arms by train. So, a steady flow of weapons started going from Germany to Constantinople (Istanbul). This one is part of that military aid. It may have had the muzzlering removed by the Ottomans too, though that is impossible to know. It had an Ottoman serial number in the old script stamped on the crossguard, so there is no doubt that it was there, and used in WWI by them. Whether it was subsequently in use in Turkey’s later wars against the Greeks after the fall of the Ottoman Empire is impossible to know, but at least it escaped being cut down on the standardization program from 1928 onwards.
After Turkey sold out their obsolete weapons this bayonet’s history took another turn. It fell into the hands of Antony Carter, who wrote his great work on German bayonets and made the classification system for the ersatz bayonets, still in widespread use. It is shown, not just the type, but this actual example, in German Bayonets volume III page 109. The serial number proves it. It is represented both with a picture, a drawing, and a detailed description. So, there is no doubt it was his. As so many British collectors did in those days, he considered repainting it as quite ok. So the paint on the handle and scabbard was applied by Carter himself. In the sales catalogue from when he sold this one, catalogue number 74 sent out in 1985, he also describes it, no doubt it is this one. I have the catalogue.
So a very rare ersatz bayonet, and not with just one, but with three separate interesting stories connected with it. You would struggle to find a more unique example.
Note the serial number..
This exact bayonet as shown in German Bayonets Vol III by Antony Carter, page 109.
Catalogue number 74, 1985, by Antony Carter.
This bayonet was at that time sold at £55, it would not be that cheap today…
