1911 DWM, Unit Marked

[Dwight Gruber]

Presented here is a 1911 DWM, serial# 521e, unit mark B.1.T.S.1.133. 1911 guns were made without stock lug or holdopen. These DWM-manufactured guns were chamber-dated, numbered in the Commercial style, stamped on the right receiver with two inspector marks and power proof. Estimated production was 13,000 guns, reported in the 1524c to 4825e serial range thus overlapping 1910 production (Still, "Imperial Lugers").



In 1913 an Instruction was issued that all P-08 were to be manufactured with holdopens, and those already in service were to be returned to the Erfurt arsenal to be retrofitted. As the war started and Bavarian units were posted far from Thuringia, most Bavarian unit marked Lugers--including this one--did not make it back to Erfurt to have a holdopen added.



The magazine is the appropriate type for a pre-1912 Luger, although it has no letter suffix which was added with the e suffix guns.





1911 DWM (and some 1912) did not conform to the 1910 marking regulations. This gun shows commercial--hidden--serial number placement on the small parts, and only two inspector's stamps on the right receiver.

At the conclusion of the Marking Instructions published in G�¶rtz & Walter (German Small Arms Markings, p.114) the editors note parenthetically the difference in DWM and Erfurt marking practices, and comment that the Instructions may have been aimed specifically at the Erfurt manufacturing plant. This makes a certain amount of sense in that Erfurt was a Government aresenal, and would be subject to decree in a manner that private-enterprise DWM might not be.

We are used to seeing the comment that "DWM did not follow the marking instructions", and interpreting it as willful contravention. Might DWMs post-1910 marking practices just as easily be evidence that the Instructions were simply not applied to them until later production?



B.1.T.S.1.133 represents "Bayerisches, 1 Train-Bataillon, Sanit�¤ts-Kompagnie 1, Waffe Nr. 133" translates as Bavarian, First Train Battalion,First Medical Company, weapon #133. Actually there is a differing interpretation of Sanit�¤ts-Kompagnie: G�¶rtz & Bryans glossary defines it as Medical Company, as does a German-English diectionary; Noll parses it out as medical company as well; in "Imperial Lugers" Still defines Sanit�¤ts as an ambulancer. I have no way of knowing which is the most proper, "ambulancer" makes a certain logical sense in the context of a mobile service column. I suppose that this speaks to Klaus's insistence that one needs to have a thorough understanding of how the Imperial German Army was constructed before one can fully understand unit markings.

I suppose it's worthwhile pointing out here that "Train" in this context is not associated with railroad. Train Batttalions started out in the 19th Century as Artillery Trains, ammunition and logistics support columns for artillery. These evolved into general mobile support columns.

I note an interesting correlation among Bavarian T.S. marked Lugers. Of the 9 reported examples, all are 1911 DWM. Five of the First Train Battalion guns fall into the e block (serial numbers of the other examples are not reported). This is a very small sample, certainly of low statistical validity, but points an interesting direction for the issue distribution of Lugers. The consecutive distribution of serial numbers in the First, Second, and Third Companies of the First Division is provocative.

B.1.T.S.1.133 DWM 1911 521e DG

B.1.T.S.2.210 DWM 1911 930e Noll
B.1.T.S.2.230 DWM 1911 Still (Imperial Lugers)

B.1.T.S.3.68 DWM 1911 1046e Noll, Still (Imperial Lugers)
B.1.T.S.3.73 DWM 1911 1051e Noll
B.1.T.S.3.171 DWM 1911 1166e Still (Imperial Lugers)

B.2.T.S.1.177 DWM 1911 Still (Imperial Lugers)
B.2.T.S.2.76 DWM 1911 Still (Imperial Lugers)

B.2T.S.3.201 DWM 1911 39xx Noll, Still (Imperial Lugers)

--Dwight