WWII German Army Officer's Dress Bayonet - The German Army was made part of the Wehrmacht in May 1935 with the passing of the "Law for the Reconstruction of the National Defence Forces". Between 1935 and 1945 this force grew to consist of hundreds of divisions and thousands of smaller supporting units. Between 1939 and 1945 close to 16 million served in the Army.

Officers were allowed to wear a dress bayonet as part of their uniform. These items were worn promarily at special social events such as parties, parades, weddings, etc. The parade bayonets were beautifully design and were meant to compliment the looks of the uniform rather than be a weapon for fighting.

A lesser quality Army dress bayonet was also available. The police dress bayonet is featured in this page.

The design of the bayonet was similar to the K98 bayonet. The pommel was of metal construction. A single spring loaded button was placed near the top. The handles were made of stag and were secured via the use of two rivets.

The crossguard was a small. Of silver color. A single side curves upwards. The other side has a groove for the K-98 rifle barrel, even though this bayonet could not attach to one.

The blade was of double edge construction. Chromed and unsharpened, as it was not necessary since the bayonet was not intended for combat purposes.

This bayonet comes with a portapee. Not all bayonets were equipped with them.

The bayonet comes with a brown leather frog. Of heavy duty construction. Thick cotton thread in combination with rivets are employed to guarantee lasting power. A belt loop allows the soldier to carry the bayonet in the waist. The back of the frog is stamped with the characters "LG".

The portapee came in a variety of colors to indicate the type of unit where the soldier served. The knot shown on this example has a combination of silver and green colors. Where the green indicated infantry.

The knot is attached to a ribbon that has a separate set of colors. The size of the ribbon varies depending on its purpose. If it was intended for use with a sword the length would be longer. bayonet ribbons tended to be shorter.

This dress bayonet was manufactured by WKC. Which was a well renown company for the production of high quality edge weapons during the Nazi reign.

The manufacturer's logo is placed at the base of the blade. In this case is the head of a knight armor. It is important to note that not all of the blades were marked by the manufacturer. It is possible to have blades that are blank.

The bottom portion of the knot shows the color green. In addition, a piece of green felt material is inserted in the bayonet lugnut guide.

Many German edge weapons are currently reproduced. It is becoming more difficult to be able to tell the fake ones from the real ones because the quality of the reproductions is improving. The collector must become familiarized with the construction style and materials employed in the manufacturing of this item. Attention to the details is critical in order to be able to determine the authenticity of the collectible.