Luger Erfurt 1916

[Mac Cat]

The Regimental unit mark is in Jeff Noll's book, page 58

Armeekorps 18, Ersatz-Maschinengewehr-Kompagnie 4

Since Ersatz means replacement, I would guess it was a reserve machine-gun company.
No weapon number.

[Doubs]

Originally Posted by Mac Cat

Since Ersatz means replacement, I would guess it was a reserve machine-gun company. No weapon number.

Another common meaning for Ersatz is "substitute". When certain commodities became scarce in Germany during WW1, there was ersatz coffee, tobacco etc.made from other substances in an effort to replace the real thing.