Luftwaffe dagger 1st model, 1935

Information about the organization – Air Force (Luftwaffe)

Shortly after the founding of the Nazi Party, Hitler appointed Hermann Göring as the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe. Goering was the ideal candidate for this task, as he was a renowned German fighter pilot of World War I with considerable experience in the field of aviation. Goering had a dual function as he was also appointed Minister of Aviation, which gave him responsibility for German civil aviation. In the early 1930s, as Hitler took the reins of his new empire, Göring began building and training the Nazi air force. To circumvent the restrictions imposed on the German armed forces by the Treaty of Versailles, Goering organized the German Air Sports Union (DLV). Under the guise of training sport pilots and gliders, he initiated an active program to train future pilots and crews for the military. At the same time, he instructed his aircraft designers to begin work on prototypes of military aircraft.

The Luftwaffe grew from a small organization with very experienced personnel to an impressive 260,000 men and more than twenty-one flight squadrons by 1939. The main divisions of the Luftwaffe were: flying troops, anti-aircraft artillery, air signal troops, parachute troops, air police, and aviation engineers. There were several special units composed of Luftwaffe troops that were used as regular ground combat forces. In 1936, Goering took the opportunity to test the effectiveness of his Luftwaffe in the Spanish Civil War. He readily admitted that he used the conflict to test fighter pilots, bombing tactics, and anti-aircraft batteries; he deployed as many of his personnel as possible into battle to expand his combat experience.

The Luftwaffe had two different models of dirks. The first model was adopted in 1934 and was a copy of a dirk intended for Luftwaffe commanding officers.

Information about the Luftwaffe dagger, first model 1935.

In March 1935, the Fliegerdolch was introduced for use by officers and senior NCOs. It was based on a similar dirk worn by the German Air Sports Union (DLV).

The handle had a wooden core with a dark blue coating of Moroccan leather. The threaded handle is wrapped in silver or gilded wire. Fluted handle with an inclined ribbed cross.

Solid nickel head with an inlaid brass disk with a swastika. This disk is repeated in the center of the cross, only smaller on both sides. The disks were plated with silver, then the swastika was gilded. “A lot of people think that the swastika is a copper insert, which is completely wrong, 100% wrong!” For a short period of time, in 1936, low-quality metal was used on this hardware, which was plated with silver. After that, an aluminum disk with a gold swastika was used. All other parts of the handle were first made of melchior, and later of polished aluminum.

The dagger was 48 cm long and had a plain blade without engraving or a motto as standard. The most valuable are the blades with etching and Damascus blades. Please note that there are only 5 known originals with a Damascus steel blade, making them the rarest dirks ever made.

It is known that the blades issued by the state have a special small stamp in the form of a serial number. The absence of this number meant that the dagger was purchased and bore the manufacturer’s stamp.

The scabbard was covered with the same dark blue leather as the hilt. The scabbard’s mouth and scabbard’s rim have movable rings on which the pendant was attached. The pendant is presented in the form of a double melchior or aluminum chain of different lengths. The pendant is 23 cm long, silver (it was authorized only for flight crews).

This dagger was discontinued in December 1944.