Memorabilia

Imperial German Soldier's Edged Weapon & Accoutrement Lot

Includes a well-loved "MERCATOR" soldier's pocket knife with with chain and attachment tab, dark steel patina and a blade that shows sharpening from extended use.  Deer foot handle close combat knife has 14.5cm (5-3/4") blade with dark blemishes, slight edge nicks, and signs of sharpening, recurved guard, and deer foot handle which has lost more hair than Don Rickles and Telly Savalas combined; includes a simple brown leather sheath without provision for attachment or carry.  S.98 bayonet has Erfurt arsenal stamp on a dark gray quillback blade with dark blemishes and areas of minor pitting, spine has 1903 date and Prussian inspector stamp.  Hilt has a poorly repaired grip, unit markings to the 31st Infantry Regiment on the guard.  Steel mounted leather scabbard is heavily oiled and has been put into a Third Reich era dress bayonet frog.  

Lot further includes a Prussian buckle and waistbelt: combat waistbelt lacks the internal buckle adjustment billet, fitted with a wartime Prussian buckle with traces of feldgrau finish blending with patina.  Carrying Case For Aviation or Driving Goggles is the issue pattern laminated fiber case with hinged lid, belt loop, and closure strap.  Pebble grained brown leather remains in nice condition.  Also includes a nice wartime M.1915 breadbag strap, feldgrau canvas with no visible markings but very good overall condition.  

$200 - $300

British & Canadian WWI Mixed Lot: Flying Goggles, Remembrance Art, & Canadian 22nd Battalion Badge

Lot features a British khaki wool sidecap with buttoning neck cape that has some wear and mothing, but displays a nice example of the Canadian 22nd Infantry Battalion badge.  Interior has a name inscription.  Flying goggles are a rectangular leather mask with chenille-lined, spring-loaded goggles, of which one laminated lens remains (cloudy as is often the case), and the other is missing, as are the twill tape ties.  Also includes a RFC "Royal Flying Corps" embroidered souvenir.  A tin metal art partriotic mourning door badge is 31.5cm (12-5/8") tall x 17cm (6-5/8") wide, with wreathed Union flag over plaque with red ribbon tails.  Plaque is somewhat difficult to read, but you can make out "Mort (for) France".  

Raised in Quebec and mobilized at St. Jean under General Order 36 of March 15, 1915, the 22nd Battalion embarked for overseas service on May 20, 1915, under Lieutenant‑Colonel F. M. Gaudet, with a strength of 36 officers and 1,097 other ranks. The unit served in France and Belgium as part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division.

Formed in response to widespread demand for a French‑Canadian fighting unit, the 22nd was the only francophone infantry battalion to see active service with the Canadian Corps during the First World War. It entered the front lines in Belgium in September 1915 and was disbanded in 1920.

$100 - $200

Western Front Battlefield Relic Lot Including Lebel Rifle

Lot includes two 12" x 16" collector display frames and one 8.5" x 12" frame, filled with shell fragments, bits of corrugated sheet metal from trench walls, the base of a minenwerfer shell, recovered Bavarian and Prussian spike helmet wappen, barbed wire, etc., much (but not all) of it labeled as to where it was recovered.  Also includes a battlefield relic Imperial German S.98/05 bayonet, and features a battlefield relic French Lebel rifle which has been dramatically twisted, likely by the effect of a shellburst.  The force from artillery explosions can be much like a tornado, turning the once-formidable implements of war into mute testimonials to the effect of being downrange amid the sudden and violent arrival of high explosives.  In this case, we can see that the bolt was open at the time that the shell arrived.  It is interesting to think that as that last fired cartridge was being ejected, a shell landed that not only bent the barrel in multiple directions, but also the back end of the bolt!

Though from a logical, practical perspective this rifle is clearly now lethal only to someone not up-to-date on their tetanus shots.. it is in the eyes of the law still a modern rifle, and must transfer via an FFL as a -nsn- (no serial number) post-1898 firearm.

$400 - $600