Glad to see Bud here!
He is totally correct, but I thought I would add to this some, - the EW (
Einwohnerwehr or Civil Guard) existed throughout Germany immediately after the war, and they were essentially a militia, not directly affiliated with the Freikorps and other paramilitary organizations.
The EW in Bavaria and in the eastern areas of Germany existed longer as there was local resistance to their disbandment. (ordered by the German government at the demand of the Entente) They were the largest and last to disband.
Bavaria had undergone a terrible period experimenting with the communist and anarchist version of “hope & change” and was especially resistant to any disbandment. They eventually did disband, well sort of, - the small arms were significantly hidden (Ernst Röhm played a significant role in arming the EWB and became a arms smuggler amongst his many other talents) and the EWB was transformed into a well-known paramilitary organization-
The Bund Bayern und Reich, which later merged with Stahlhelm group.
These paramilitary groups would continue to cause a lot of heartburn for the German government and the French as the French were especially vigilant over the effectives (potential reserves for the German Reichsheer) clauses of the Versailles treaty.
Also the numbers estimated by the French and British varied wildly for the various EW militias, for instance the IMKK officially estimated EWB strength at 300,000, while Gen. Morgan (a notorious British General who truly hated Germans and Germany- his book is revealing for the contempt he held for everything German) estimated 500,000 EWB, and the French estimated the entire EW to number 2,000,000! Although they did tend to lump all paramilitary organizations liberally into one big pile.
what does the EWB in the side of the buttstock on a Gew 98 I looked at denote? (I think it was "EWB")
it seemed reworked, bolt and receiver were blued....some matching parts but not all matching, wood seemed nice, very very faint proofs but a deep big EWB on the side of the buttstock, right side I believe