Rare to find German soldiers unmodified ersatz bayonet scabbard recovered 2012 from rubbish pit near the village of Mametz part of the German defensive line on 1st July 1916. During the First attack by the British on the first day of the Somme.

This is a rare to find German soldiers unmodified ersatz bayonet scabbard which is complete but has slightly bent up. The scabbard still has no paintwork remains it is in relic condition it is rusty with no rust holes but does have a bit of damage it is still very solid it is not braking up or falling apart at all it has been very well cleaned and is perfect for display or any collection and scabbard like this are hard find from the battlefield as only thin metal and they have normally rotted away. The scabbard was recovered 2012 from rubbish pit near the village of Mametz part of the German defensive line on 1st July 1916. During the First attack by the British on the first day of the battle of the Somme.The scabbard comes with a laminated A5 information sheet with information and photos. 

in June 1916, the British preliminary bombardment cut much of the barbed wire protecting the Mametz defences and destroyed many of the trenches in the first position occupied by Reserve Infantry Regiment 109 of the 28th Reserve Division. On the 1st July 1916 when the British 7th Division advanced behind a creeping barrage, much of the German front line was quickly overrun and many prisoners taken; delays further forward caused the infantry to lag behind the barrage and suffer far more casualties. Mametz was occupied during the morning by the British 20th Brigade but a German counterattack forced most of the British troops out, until a second attack during the afternoon, when the advance of the British 18th Division on the right flank, had cut the Germans in the village off from Montauban to the east. The German defence collapsed, and the 7th Division reached all its objectives on the right and in the centre and began to consolidate, ready to receive a German counterattack.

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