Fred Tolles or “Uncle Fred”, who was drafted in the US army early 1942 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, brought this German bayonet back from his campaign in the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes). This last German attack on the Western front (December 1944) was Hitler’s final offensive attempt of the war, aimed at throwing back the Western allies and re-taking the port of Antwerp and thus cut their vital supply lines. The idea was to win time to introduce and use the new “Wunderwaffen” (“miracle weapons”) on a massive scale, that is not only the V1 and V2 bomb-drones and missiles but also the recently introduced Me262, the first ever operational fighter-jet as well as further technological developments (like the rocket-propelled Me163 aircraft also operational by the end of the war). Luckily, the Ardennes offensive was eventually halted (after heavy losses on both sides) and all this new German war technology was too little, too late, for Germany to turn the tide of the war.

Fred Tolles, was a truck driver in the army and would probably have been bringing up troops and supplies or moving some of the heavy howitzers to stop the German advance from breaking out of the Ardennes.

Fred Tolles at training barracks in USA, early 1942

Back to the bayonet.
Fred’s nephew, Claude Long, very kindly gave it to me. Not much more is known about uncle Fred’s time on the European front, and less even about exactly where and in which circumstances he picked up this war trophy.
However, objects can speak for themselves, to a certain extent, and tell us a further story.
The markings on it tell us that it is a 1941 bayonet for the standard K98 Mauser rifle. In particular the “41 fnj” printed on the blade and on the scabbard indicate that is was made in 1941 by the Alex Copel factory in Solingen, a German town still known today for its good knives!
Now the tragic and dark irony of recent German history is that the Copel family owning the “Alex Coppel, Stahlware u. Waffenfabrik GmbH” which grew out of a family business founded in 1821 and produced many bayonets during both world wars, was Jewish!
In 1936 the firm was “arianised” – its legitimate owners expropriated although the factory’s name was apparently upheld! – and in 1942 Alex Copel and other family members were deported to Theresienstadt where he died within three weeks. That’s the Nazis gratitude for helping in Germany’s war effort!

Detailed description of the bayonet and its markings (click on images for close view):

This early war bayonet is of the the higher quality fabrication. Late war bayonets were made more crudely and are known as ‘Ersatz’-bayonets. Like others this early model reveals a fascinating multiplication of stamps/markings associated to the quality controls both from the maker and from the Waffenamt, the local military procurement agency.

Year decimals and maker’s mark on blade ricasso

Scabbard’s frog stud with ‘611 a’ mark on scabbard

‘WaA883’ stamp on the pommel identifies the Waffenamt 883 (German weapons agency) located in Solingen.

Dismantling the handle reveals more information, like the fabrication number ‘2025’ and…

Inner side of bakelite handle plate reveals more markings

… including a different version of the Waffenamt stamp with full German-NS eagle with Swastika rather than just the stylised lines above the ‘WaA883’ code! (click on image for close-up)

Some links:
http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/Germany__Post_WW_I_/Germany_1933_1945.html#TopPage
http://www.quanonline.com/military/military_reference/german/blades/army/k98.php
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Coppel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffenamt_codes

Related webpages or articles

• On memorabilia and family stories, an example from England:

  Sharing Stories, Making Memories. WWII East Lancashire Childhoods: A National Lottery Heritage Fund Project

  Further related contents

• Germany and the Centenary 1914/2014 – The forgotten war (broeder10.wordpress.com)
• 2009: El Paso veterans remember D-Day (elpasotimes.typepad.com)
• National › Old grenades, bayonets found in school playground (japantoday.com)

• Schätze im Schützengraben – Archäologie des KriegesSchätze im Schützengraben – Archäologie des Krieges Archaelogy of war – Archéologie de la guerre
  

• Cleaning up after WWII (WordPress blog)