Unit Mark G.K. on 1914 Erfurt...

[Don M]

Originally Posted by Geo99

Don,

SN is 1795 ns.

You stated earlier that these are from the Gendarmeriekorps of Hessen. Was this a police unit during WWI? Is it possible they procured these during the war? I ask because I find it odd they have so many 1913 and 1914 Erfurts marked as G.K. And most of them are in really good shape, like they didn't see much action, if any.

- Geo

Thanks for the sn.

The hessischen Gendarmerie existed since at least 1862. I suspect that the P08s that they had during WWI were the 1908 Commercial DWMs stamped G.K. / crown / # on the chamber and that the 1913s and 1914s marked on the grip strap were surplus (mainly Erfurts) re-issued after the war (HWIS pp. 255-8).