German Imperial Colonial Schutztruppe kS98 Sawback Bayonet WW1

The kS98 became the standard bayonet of the Schutztruppe in German South West Africa (Namibia) until the fall of the colony in 1915 during the South African Union Defence Force's invasion at the start of the First World War.

The bayonets of the German South West African Schutztruppe were unit marked "K.S." (or sometimes "KS" without the punctuation) for "Kaiserliche Schutztruppe"  followed by a two, three, four or five figure weapon number. This example unfortunately does not have matching numbers. This bayonet was made at Erfurt in 1911 (marked "W11") and has the original leather grips held with three rivets and a steel scabbard. Like all kS98 bayonets it has a sawback blade.

The Erfurt kS98 with leather grips was the most commonly issued variant to the South West African Schutztruppe. The hot dry climate of South West Africa did not rot the leather grips of the kS98 bayonet as badly as the damp climates of other German colonies like East Africa and Cameroon, so many South West African bayonets retained their original leather grips.