UBB.threads Forums Edged Weapons Army, Navy, and Luftwaffe Forum Double etched Krebs army Dagger

There are many ways to acquire daggers nowadays, you can go to a show where you can pick the dagger up and satisfy yourself of it�s originality, you can buy a dagger from another collector/friend more than likely you�ll either get to see it before you buy it or have a short time frame to satisfy yourself of the authenticity, you can buy from a website and if the dealer is decent enough you�ll get a chance to make sure it�s OK, the tricky way to buy anything is by an Auction especially when you cannot actually go to it and see the item yourself, what are you left with, usually some crappy photo�s and a one line description, certainly most auctions over here are not enamoured with 3rd Reich items, they take them in and move them on, there are though some auctions where dealers try to sell there fake ********, most of us over here who buy through auctions know which auction houses they are and stay well away from them. Occasionally though you�ll get an item pop up on an auction house list, it may even have more than a one line description, it might even offer a way of verifying some of the facts or at least go someway into helping you come to a conclusion.
Here�s an Auction Description that I found

� A Third Reich Army Dagger with pebbled finish scabbard, double etched blade by Carl Julius Krebs Solingen�

Condition Report:
Owned by the vendors father who we understand was in the 6th Airbourne Division and obtained the item during the Allied advance to the Elbe at the Village of Ulzen from the home of a high ranking German Officer who had been at Stalingrad where he was severely wounded.

With this description was a number of very fuzzy pictures, in my opinion they were not good enough to determine authenticity of this dagger, it looked good but I was certainly far from 100% convinced. I asked for a few better pictures of both sides of the blade and received them, they confirmed that everything about the dagger was of �3rd Reich origin�. I wanted to make sure that the dagger had the parts you would expect on a Krebs army, generally generic fittings, a plated blade and most especially the style and position of the makers mark, everything was as expected, it even had a pair of Deluxe hangers and a very worn knot.

Now to confirm the vendors statement regarding the 6th Airbourne Division, was it in fact anywhere near the Elbe, did it go through the town of Ulzen, after some investigation I found that the 6th Airborne Division was made up of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades and the 6th Airlanding Brigade. It is the 6th Airlanding Brigade which comprised the most heavily armed men in the British army that we need to concentrate on, after reading the records on this Brigade, just a few days after their attack and capture of Steinhuder Meer on 10th April 1945 I found that they did indeed go through Ulzen, following the capture of Ulzen they then captured L�neburg and by 2nd May had reached the River Elbe, it was only a few days later after crossing the Elbe they made contact with the leading elements of the Russian army advancing from the east.

Why go to all the trouble of confirming the veterans account when everything looked OK with the dagger, I have always though that some due diligence should be performed wherever possible and especially when there is some information to go on, no harm in checking the facts especially because of this particular daggers make up, any dagger with a double etched blade is going to cost and its probably not going to be cheap especially in an auction where its easy to get carried away.

I decided to act on the above information and have a go at buying the dagger, I know what your all thinking "Buy the dagger but not the story" it's the mantra we all say to each other, I�ll let you guys decide if I bought well or not and I do not think in this case it has much to do with the value!!!!!!
I always try to keep an open mind regarding any dagger, I'm not one for dismissing a dagger because its not textbook, I try and research everything I can when I have the time prior to purchasing, in this case I asked myself if there is anyway this blade could fit in with the army, perhaps there is an answer but I'll need to research a while longer to confirm my suspicions, perhaps some of you guys can help out, has anybody come across anything like this before?.

Gary