Wotan, A very nice (and desirable) late dress bayonet !!
Besides no etching, the blade looks to be polished steel. Or am I misreading the image?
Ron, The NPEA documents mentioned for me would be one of the high points of the revised book, although I�m sure it will have many more. Speaking generally, original source material with some books is a rarity. When original source material is included it doesn�t leave much room for speculation or doubt as to how the Germans actually handled certain matters.
From my own perspective there is a difference between when an item was made with either an established, or approximate, cutoff date if manufacture of same was terminated. And previously manufactured items still being used or still existing as unsold items in a sales distribution channel (like Wotan�s bayonet).
For example swords are seen at state funerals fairly late in the war. However, Himmler issued a directive in 1942 stating that Honor Swords were no longer be conferred because they could not be made citing steel shortages. If the SS could not get an exception who could ?? Regards to All, FP
