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P. Weyersberg "Tr" marked bayonet find...

Len S

Member
This Tr marked bayonet (made by Paul Weyersberg in 1941) came my way recently. It's been about twenty years since I last saw one ( and missed getting it by a few steps). This one has a matching scabbard. There was a well worn frog on it that had a faint unit mark and I hoped that might shed some light on who received these unusual pieces. Under magnification it turned out to be the standard Luftwaffe clothing depot stamp. Here are some pics.

Len
 

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nice one matching piece, to this time no confirmation, evidently P.Weyersberg have strange serialing in 1941, possible this was one contractor, some source speaks about Tr for HZA Depot Trier. But is not confirmed. b.r.Andy
 
Nice bayo. To which German unit or organization this unique contract was destined for remains a mystery. Back in 2002, bayonet 5970 | Tr was offered on Ebay. I copied the listing description. Scabbard was mismatched but exhibited same wear & condition as bayonet. Seller went on to state piece was purchased in a grouping consisting of several items acquired from the family of a USGI Veteran's estate. The bayonet and other items each had "oil-cloth" tags attached prior to shipment back to the USA, with either the identity and/or a comment. Tag on the bayonet stated it had "...been taken from a dead German from the Luftwaffe Herman Goering Division, in a Italian town, 1944.". This is the only "Tr" example I am aware of with what appears to be some sort of provenance (tag was pictured with bayonet in the listing). It seems likely the USGI whom took the bayonet probably recognized markings on the deceased German Soldat's uniform and/or had access to his personal papers to help identify his unit. I also believe whatever unit received these bayonets was based in Western Europe. I say this because had they gone into either Russia or the Balkans, they would be virtually unknown to the collector.
 
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Nice example. Has been a while since a new number has been reported ....
 
From my dbase there is not details about origin, possible that some went with LW units, anyway in 1941 i assume LW already ordered pre Heeres WaffenAmt, so the deliveries were realised not per maker as here is one maker and one series. minimum 2 pcs are confirmed reworked in Norwegia, so some went to north of Europe. Some of the highest numbers were reported from middle Europe. b.r.Andy
 
From my dbase there is not details about origin, possible that some went with LW units, anyway in 1941 i assume LW already ordered pre Heeres WaffenAmt, so the deliveries were realised not per maker as here is one maker and one series. minimum 2 pcs are confirmed reworked in Norwegia, so some went to north of Europe. Some of the highest numbers were reported from middle Europe. b.r.Andy

Good research, Andy. I also recall a seller from Europe (Luxembourg) offering one on Ebay some years ago as well. Thought he said it was recovered in a house there. My experience has been the majority of "Tr"s I have seen did not come with frogs. Of those that did, never observed any specific makers or issue markings to help identify the organization these bayonets went to...
 
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