Dutch Lugers

Ron Wood · 06-20-2002, 12:54 AM

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!

06-20-2002, 12:54 AM	#7
Ron Wood Moderator 2010 LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Santa Teresa New Mexico just outside of the West Texas town of El Paso Posts: 7,040 Thanks: 1,106 Thanked 5,256 Times in 1,724 Posts	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