Pete,
* Yes.
* I own a '18 HKO; although, I seem to remember mine being marked between the belt loops. It has a Bavarian C/I mark also.
* John Walter, The Luger Book, Pg. 137 states: On pre-1918 PT.08 and magazine/ammo pouches, HKO over M�¼nchen has been reported on Bavarian holsters in conjunction with a distinctive Crown "I", "II", or "III". At the time of this writing no satisfactory explanation of these marks has been offered."
* Since that time, an Auto Mag article surfaced in Vol. XXX, Pg. 243 offering an explanation of the Crown marking as: "One of the 3 Bavarian region of commands during 1914-1918".
- 1st Army Corp in S�¼d Bayern with M�¼nich as the center of command,
- 2nd Army Corp in Unterfranken und Pfalz with W�¼rzburg as the center, and
- 3rd Army Corp in Nord-Bayern with N�¼rnburg as the center.
* Each Corp center had its own "Bekeidungsamt", clothing procurement/distribution office, responsible for leather.
* Unfortunately, I have not yet found an explanation for who "HKO" is. Anyone have further ID info on HKO?
Respectfully,
Bob
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