Thread: Dutch Lugers
View Single Post
Unread 06-20-2002, 12:54 AM   #7
Ron Wood
Moderator
2010 LugerForum
Patron
 
Ron Wood's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso
Posts: 6,988
Thanks: 1,067
Thanked 5,098 Times in 1,676 Posts
Post

Pete,
This is a wild guess, but here goes anyway. The unit markings were made "in the field" so to speak. To quote Martens and de Vries, "Most units operated in great isolation, and local officers in charge of small arms had the opportunity to apply unit marks as they found necessary." Therefore, although most markings are fairly standardized with upper and lower case lettering, it is not hard to imagine a unit armorer having only upper case letters at his disposal. Now for the next leap of imagination. Consider the times and the difficulty in maintaining a set of "rules" with easy access at each and every field unit. Perhaps there were multiple ways to abbreviate different locations or the armorer was just not "educated" properly with respect to the "official" abbreviation for a location. Therefore, although the "correct" marking for the Medical unit at the Kutaraja Hospital would be "Mgd. Kr.", the scenario that I have outlined might result in "MGD.KT.". That is my $0.02 worth, and probably overpriced at that!

P.S. I wouldn't mind having a KOL myself!
__________________
If it's made after 1918...it's a reproduction
Ron Wood is online now   Reply With Quote