Japanese Luger Story...

Vlim · 02-03-2004, 08:12 AM

Hi John,

No offense. The Brass plates are a story in it's self. Originally, the KNIL lugers were marked at the back of the frame just above the lanyard loop. These marks were punched in, German style.

In the mid-30s a new system was devised, using small brass plates soldered to the trigger guard. This proved to be quite cumbersome and the result wat that new guidlines were issued in 1939, introducing the brass sideplates.

So the brass sideplates were a relatively late addition. After 1945, when the Dutch got their colonies back, they started building up the KNIL army again and as a result surviving guns were reissued. The shortage of 9mm ammo meant that most lugers ended up in Staff/HQ arsenals where they saw little or no use. The active groups were armed with surplus US and UK material because of the excellent ammo supply.

This means that a wide variety of Dutch luger markings exist: Unmarked, Brass trigger plate, Brass Sideplate, unmarked brass sideplate, removed brass sideplate, Indionesian republic marked, etc...

One of our forum members bought a Dutch sideplate marked luger assembly with capture papers that documented the capture of the gun in October, 1945. This gun was especially nice, since the sideplate had been marked in the timespace between 1941 and 1942, when the east-indies airforces were reorganized to form the 'new' Militaire Luchtvaartafdeling KNIL (Military airforce KNIL or MLK, also mentioned as MLA). This replaced the L.A. marked sideplates mentioned in 'Martens & De Vries'. The reorganizations in 1941 were done to prepare the KNIL for the battle with the Japanese.

Dutch lugers remained in service from 1945 until 1950 when the KNIL was disbanded. Remaining guns went back to the Netherlands and were eventually sold off.

02-03-2004, 08:12 AM	#14
Vlim Moderator Lifetime LugerForum Patron Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Europe Posts: 5,053 Thanks: 1,036 Thanked 3,990 Times in 1,205 Posts	Hi John, No offense. The Brass plates are a story in it's self. Originally, the KNIL lugers were marked at the back of the frame just above the lanyard loop. These marks were punched in, German style. In the mid-30s a new system was devised, using small brass plates soldered to the trigger guard. This proved to be quite cumbersome and the result wat that new guidlines were issued in 1939, introducing the brass sideplates. So the brass sideplates were a relatively late addition. After 1945, when the Dutch got their colonies back, they started building up the KNIL army again and as a result surviving guns were reissued. The shortage of 9mm ammo meant that most lugers ended up in Staff/HQ arsenals where they saw little or no use. The active groups were armed with surplus US and UK material because of the excellent ammo supply. This means that a wide variety of Dutch luger markings exist: Unmarked, Brass trigger plate, Brass Sideplate, unmarked brass sideplate, removed brass sideplate, Indionesian republic marked, etc... One of our forum members bought a Dutch sideplate marked luger assembly with capture papers that documented the capture of the gun in October, 1945. This gun was especially nice, since the sideplate had been marked in the timespace between 1941 and 1942, when the east-indies airforces were reorganized to form the 'new' Militaire Luchtvaartafdeling KNIL (Military airforce KNIL or MLK, also mentioned as MLA). This replaced the L.A. marked sideplates mentioned in 'Martens & De Vries'. The reorganizations in 1941 were done to prepare the KNIL for the battle with the Japanese. Dutch lugers remained in service from 1945 until 1950 when the KNIL was disbanded. Remaining guns went back to the Netherlands and were eventually sold off.