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As a general rule I only collect bayonets from the german colonies, but these medals occasionally turn up for sale with the ks98 sawback bayonets . Collecting clasps is a minefield as there are official ones, privately made ones and fakes. To compound the minefield is that many of the clasps...

As a general rule I only collect bayonets, but these medals occassionally turn up for sale with the ks98 bayonets and add a little to their story . Collecting clasps is a minefield as there are official ones , privately made ones and fakes . The medal itself was awarded to members of the...

A ks98, made in 1912 by erfurt, i would assume chromed post war by a collector , but im intrigued by the aluminium handles my first thought would be post war replacements , yet they are perfect fits and share the same "1" found on all other parts of the bayonet 1912 was the first year that...

Made by bontgen and sabin , circa 1916 (based on lack of date on spine and flashguard)

Evenly matched , ks98s and 1888s (and 1903s) served together very briefly in 1907 and 1908 during the wars in dswa against the nama and herero tribes (when south african troops assisted in tracking down nama warriors on request of the schutztruppe), and then as foes in 1914 / 1915

Ks98s had a hard life in the colonies , and are often found with their leather handles missing or in bad condition , rarely some ks98s were rehandled by german armourers , this specific example has original ks98 wood handles and bolts but were added recently during restoration. Made by erfurt...

Horster received large contracts from the colonial office for wooden handled ks98s in 1913 , this specific example has no unit markings but is in a colonial issued frog marked "Pol Tr" hinting perhaps as it being used by the politzeitruppen in togo (open to debate , any input welcome)

One of the less common variations of the ks98s ,usually only found on the south african market, made by erfurt in 1914 , this has caoutchouc handles (the rubber was sourced from belgian congo and the supply ended with ww1). Around 2100 were made in total , 300 in 1912 for trials and then the...

This is one of the original 250 wooden handles trial bayonets created for the colonies by erfurt in 1912 , where it was found that the leather handles didnt survive the african climate (especially in DOA) , all the 1912 trial bayonets have been found in south african hinting at them being issued...

KS9245 issued to the schutztruppe in dwsa , each armourer had their own unique style of stamping ,this allows us to identify that this came from artillery depot 2 with the stampings by armourer d1 , the remnants of the original frog are attached (it was common for south african troops to cut it...

This is the most common variation of the ks98 found in south africa , leather handles make up 62.5% of all ks98s made . This is a 1904 erfurt , the beak shape was better finished than those made after 1909 , although its almost impossible to take a decent photo showing the difference (beak on...

Four KS98s from my collection , the leather version being the most common with about 20 000 being made (this is a matching erfurt bayonet/scabbard issued in DSWA dated to 1911) , followed by the wooden version with 10 000 being made (the colonial horster contract of 1913) , the harder to find...

kS98'S are fairly common to find in South Africa thanks to our wars in DSWA and DOA during WW1 , the starting point of my collection was to buy Ian Jacksons book on this specific bayonet , that has allowed me to identify the various variations and their rarities , this is an Erfurt made...