Gentlemen,
There has been a question on my mind since I bought an almost mint Red Cross leaders dagger about eight years ago. I'll post pictures later when I get time. I've known since I first started investigating German daggers that the Social Welfare model had round holes as opposed to rectangular, on the suspension bands, and that this was the only distinguishing feature between the two. I have accepted this theory for years, but wanted to ask what period sources are there that state this fact. Is there any evidence if and why this small difference was used. It just seems incomprehensible to me that a designer or manufacturer would go to the trouble of having these differently shaped holes, which wouldn't be visable anyway when the hangers were attached.
Many thanks for any and all opinions on this topic.
Regards
Arminius