UNUSUAL WW2 GERMAN KS98 PARADE BAYONET MARKED DRP (POSTSCHUTZ)
HISTORY OF THE POSTSCHUTZ
The Postschutz was created in 1933 in order to protect the establishments of the German Post Office from communist attacks. In 1942 the Postschutz was put under the command of the Allgemeine SS, becoming the SS-Postschutz with Gottlob Berger as military leader, and subordinated to the supervision of the SS-Hauptamt.At the end of 1933 26,000 postal employees had volunteered for the Postschutz. In 1937 an agreement between the Wehrmacht and the Postmaster General Wilhelm Ohnesorge established that in time of war 29,000 men from the Reichspost would be reserved for the Postschutz. In 1939 the Postschutz contained 40,000 men, and was also in charge of air raid precautions for the Reichspost. All male postal employees could become volunteer members of the Postschutz. For all new employees under the age of 35 it was mandatory. Training took place at eight schools, that annually held courses for 20,000 members of the Postschutz. In 1942 units from the SS-Postschutz staffed the Fronthilfe der Deutschen Reichspost, motor coach units operating with front units of the Waffen SS. In 1944 the Fronthilfe contained a HQ, five battalions, a motor depot, and about 7,000 men. Members of the SS-Postschutz were also drafted into SS-Sicherungs-Bataillone der Deutschen Reichspost (SS-security battalions of the German post office), combating partisans in occupied Slovenia and Belorussia.
BAYONET BACKGROUND
There is a lot of conjecture on KS98 bayonets marked DRP. A lot of people assume the DRP stands for Deutsche Reich Post and indeed the German Army had a Postschutz bayonet with the blade marked DRP. Bayonet frogs with a steel reinforcement plate on the rear also had a DRP stamp which stands for Deutsche Reich Patent. War Relics forum has a good editorial on these bayonets and here is a quote from the discussion:
" Postschutz bayonets were stamped DRP with a serial number. 99% are made by P. Weyersberg. Very rare is a little stock from Alex Coppel Solingen. D.R.P. on the frog means Deutsche Reich Patent not Deutsche Reichspost."
Given the discussion on the forum the bayonet offered here completely conforms to the specifications of an original. with the blade correctly marked to the maker P.Weyesburg and the DRP stamped with a serial number. The frog has the steel backing plate and stamped DRP which we now know stands for Deutsche Reich Patent. The bayonet is in excellent condition and a rarity and would also fit into an SS edged weapon collection.