History

During the Third Reich, an effort was made to unite all of Germany’s disparate provincial police forces and agencies into a single cohesive national unit. To attain this goal, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler was named Chief of the German Police in the Ministry of the Interior in June 1936. That same month, Himmler implemented new standardized uniforms, headgear, and insignia. The uniforms worn prior to Himmler’s appointment were often navy blue, particularly in what had been Prussia. The new uniforms were green, in a shade that was then dubbed “Police green”.

The German Police were divided into two main units, the Ordnungspolizei (Orps or Regular Police) and the Sicherheitspolizei (Secret Police); the Ordnungspolizei were unofficially called the green police (Grüne Polizei) as a result of their uniform colour. The Sicherheitspolizei were made up of two main organizations, the Gestapo and the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Investigation Police). At the beginning of the Second World War, the Sicherheitspolizei were brought under the auspices of the Reich Main Security Office.

The German Police KS 98 bayonets mirrored the form of the Wehrmacht KS 98 bayonets, but they differed in their insignia and markings.

Prior to 1936, the bayonets utilized by police personnel in Germany varied according to the wearer’s district. Standardized regulations were issued in June of 1936. The police bayonets produced during the Weimar period were refurbished/reworked to fit the new Third Reich era regulations.

The handle of the bayonet is made up of the pommel, the grip, and the crossguard. The pommel has the form of a beak. The grips are composed of staghorn or black, checkered wood or plastic, and attached via two rivets. The obverse grip may feature a silver-coloured (aluminum or white metal) German police eagle insignia. The crossguard on these bayonets features one extending arm/quillon. The reverse of the quillon may be stamped with a unit mark or serial numbers.

The blade is composed of nickel-plated steel. There are two main versions of these bayonets, the bayonets with a long blade and the bayonets with a short blade. The long blades have a length of 250mm, while the short blades have a length of 200mm. The obverse and reverse of the blade ricasso generally feature manufacturer marks. The manufacturer’s trademark may be featured on the obverse, while the full name and location of the manufacturer may be etched onto the reverse. The blade spine may also have a police property mark, or be stamped with additional numbers.

The scabbard is composed of steel with a frog stud on the obverse, and it features a nickel fitting on the bottom (toe piece). The steel scabbards may be covered in black paint.

The frog is composed of brown leather and it attached to the wearer’s belt.

These bayonets may feature a variety of marks, including manufacturer marks, police property marks, and unit marks. When present, the manufacturer name and location are generally acid etched onto the reverse ricasso. The manufacturer’s trademark may also be featured on the obverse ricasso.

When the police property mark is present, it is either located on the reverse of the crossguard or the blade spine. The main types of police property marks featured on the KS 98 bayonets are “P” or “Po.”, stamped before the unit mark on the reverse of the crossguard, and the police eagle with a “B”.

When present, the unit mark is located on the reverse of the crossguard and/or the reverse of the scabbard. The unit marks are made up of a sequence of letters and numbers. The most common combination has the first letter associated with the police branch of service (i.e, S for Schutzpolizei), the next for the district (i.e, Mi for Minden), followed by a roman numeral for the duty station, and finally the weapon number in Arabic numerals; such as “S.Sch.I.492.”. These marks vary, wherein some will have cut out the duty station number, while others only indicate the district and weapon number in Arabic numerals, and some only have the weapon number. The unit mark may also be prefixed with the police property mark “P” or “Po.”. Due to the mix-matching of bayonets and scabbard during the refurbishing process, the unit marks on the scabbard do not always match those present on the crossguard reverse.

The silver, red, and black portapee/sword knot was permitted for wear with the Police Dress and Service Bayonets.