UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Miscellaneous Dagger Forum Red Cross Officer & Social Welfare Portepee's

I'm a new collector and I've been wondering what is the correct portepee for the red cross officer's dagger?...Is it the ones with red thread in the cord and red center dot?...What is the correct one for the social welfare?...Are originals rare for both?...Is there a "standard/correct" tie on both?

You`ll find that most of these daggers were equipped with the standard 42cm army portepee.

Dion

Dion,

Thanks for the help.

ww2 you sure can pack a lot of questions into a few sentences!
OK, the only difference between a RC officers and a Soc. Welfare dagger are the type of holes used to connect the hanger (Soc. Welfare = Circular, and RC officers = square).
The thing to remember is that these differences have never (to my knowledge) been proven to truly represent a differnece in thedesignation of the dagger. It may VERY well be that the difference in the holes has to do with the manufacturer of the dagger, not what branch of the RC it was for.
Now these daggers have been found usually with the standard Heer portapees (as Dion correctly mentioned). Veyr rarely you can find them equiped the the very similar 42cm aluminum portapee with the "red dot".
Some people say that the red dot is correct for RC officers and that the all aluminum port is correct for social "welfare officer" daggers. But again I think most of this is based upon collectors opinons and very little in fact.
It I were you I would put the standard aluminum portapee on your dagger. If you really want a red-dot one you can get a nice repro from Tom Johnson (ww2daggers.com) but finding an original re-dot port would take a long time (and $$$).
And finally, yes there is a specific way to tie a portapee on a RC officers/ soc. welfare dagger. It is kind of a tricky knot. I think that in one of Johnsons books there is an illustration of how to tie it. I will look around for you and if I find it I will post a pic.
Good luck and good hunting!
Johnny

ww2gunguy, here are a couple of pics that may help you, then again, maybe not! Like Johnny says it's kind of tricky to describe. You have to start at the top [pommel] that's easy, then hold the cord down the side, then make a loop, wrap it around the grip and hold it while you slip the knot through. First pic is the front and the second is the back. I agree with everything Johnny said above, however I believe there is a difference in the hangers, the RK having red stripes and the SW having purple. Hope this helps! Regards, Leipzig

pic-2

Thanks guys...this is exactly what I was looking for...this helps a lot...The only problem will be me trying to tie this knot

ww2gunguy, Here is my Red Cross Leader with the original tie. Just to make it more complicated for you.

I know that this post is coming months after the thread was started, however I just aquired a dagger from a WW2 vet's estate that is worth considering, in light of the earlier comments on this thread:

RC Officer dagger (square holes) with a VERY well worn standard "Army" portepee in the correct style of wrapping, and a set of Social Welfare hangers.

John