Luftwaffe Forestry Bayonet

Not sure were to post this but here it is. Just got this one in and would appreciate any feedback. Let me know if I am in the wrong section. Thank you in advance for your help! JME

Nope, you are in the correct section. Nice sidearm.

I agree with George, very nice bayonet. So much better made than the standard KS98 IMHO.

Thanks ORPO and Billy for your feedback! Anybody else have anything to say? Thank you. JME

I will just add that some of these have the "Ch.A.W." stamp and some do not. Some will also have serial numbers. All are correct variations.

Jürgen,

Prima!

W~

I've always wanted to find one of these. Thanks for showing.

I don't have my reference books at hand, especially George's, so could someone detail the background of these bayonets, especially the connection to the LW? I know "Ch.A.W." indicates Chef d. Ausbildungs Wesens, but what is the connection to LW Forestry? Waffen-Loesche was a commercial retailer in Berlin as listed in the phone directory. Why is there no LW WaA?

JoeW, the newer cognition (I think to remember that TTW spread this) is that Ch.A.W. means Chromolit Anton Wingen (Chromolit was a brand name of the Wingen firm).
Concerning the connection to the LW I cannot help.
Best regards,

Very nice bayonet ,, could they have been carried by luft forestry staff at karinhall ?

Wotan, I have found the Anton Wingen trademarks on SA daggers featuring the Chromolit device. But it is very different from this marking. If it is a trademark, why not like the daggers. Why just lettters. The letters could also indicate Chef (d.) Ausbildungs Amt of the SA in charge of training? I also wonder why the LW Amt acceptance is not found if used officially by LW units.

I always thought there was some substantial documentation of LW usage.

Thank you all for you input! Seems like a good discussion so far. I do not know how and why there is a Luftwaffe connection with this Bayonet. Maybe somebody else knows a little more about it. One thing that I do know is that everybody else calls it a Luftwaffe related Bayonet. I have been after this one for years and got this from a good collector friend. Most of my so called good stuff comes from other collector friends. Last one sold on e-bay for around $1,600 and the last 2 sold by Wittmann in the $1,500 range. Let's see if others might have some additional information. There is already more response on this website than on WAF since when talking about etched weapons this is the website to be on. Hi Bill, you don't see it but I put an extra portion of Schmalz on this one just to keep it nice. Thanks again! JME

J,

Yes, in case you run out of WD-40, Schmalz is always a good substitute for keeping blades tiptop!

W~

Nice Luftwaffe. Just for information, once i clean the junk from a blade (not patina), i coat the blade with Ren wax and never have to worry about fingerprints or rust again. I use it on leather, stag, ivory and just about everything else for protection. James

James,

Yes, agreed ... if cleaning a dirty blade I might use some WD-40, but always finish them off with Ren-wax. Truly an excellent product for protecting blades and delicate cleaning. Works on metal as well as wood, good stuff. Hope you're doing well and looking forward to your next find and posting.

Best!

W~

In this case a inside joke with Bill, and Yes I agree (Schmalz = Ren Wax). I use Ren Wax on just about anything I like to make sure to preserve. Wish we could somebody to tell us a little more on the Luftwaffe connection. JME

Was there not a reference to it in one of Tom Johnson's books?

--dj--Joe

Collecting The Edged Weapons Of The Third Reich by: Thomas M. Johnson

Vol. VII page 337 .
-------------------

I didn't pick up his volume VII. Is there any substantive information or just a photo and title?

TJ Collecting the Edged Weapons of the 3R, volume VII, pages 337-338. There is a shot of the Luft Forestry bayonet with 2 small paragraphs. There is another picture of a Luftwaffe Gefreiter who was assigned to the forests near Koschwitz, Upper Silesia & alleged to have carried one at that time patrolling the forests for poachers.