WW2 GERMAN STRAIGHT SHOVEL AND 1937 DATED CARRIER

This original shovel is an early, non-folding, entrenching tool approximately 34.5cm long, lathed hardwood construction handle with an enlarged ball head for ease of handling and a roughly, 21cm x 15cm slightly curved, tooled steel construction shovel head.  The shovel is maker marked:  R. Gschwinda, Oberwil-Basel. 

Comes with a first pattern black leather construction "opened" entrenching tool carrying case with steel fittings. Marked 1937. With maker mark on top - we can't read all of it as it is faded, but it seems to be TF ?K? M.

The SS soldier who wore this field gear during WWII was SS Gunner, Waske.

The straight handled shovel or Kleines Schanzzeug was the primary E tool within the German army.

Received from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum, Canada, this was from a set of German field gear with 8 pieces hanging from the belt and y-strap . We have now separated everything from the German field gear grouping to sell it separately.  This shovel and carrier is one piece of the group of 8.   

The museum was selling off some of there museum’s items, to make room for more.  The museum called it deaccessioning surplus museum artifacts.

The museum numbers their items for inventory purposes and you will see that there is a very small white numbered sticker on this item put there by the museum.  They are very easy to remove.

The entrenching tool was a basic item issued to all EM/NCO’s and was issued with a specific carrying case that was to be worn on the load carrying waist belt.

Pre-war the Wehrmacht adopted a flat blade, square head shovel with a short handle that could easily be carried by every soldier. This was essentially the same pattern as the shovels used by the German Army during WWI. This pattern of shovel was produced and used until the end of the war.

Up until 1938 the carrier for this pattern of shovel was made completely of leather. These carriers were made in both black and brown leather. Post-1938, the carriers were a mix of leather and a pressed paper product known as Presstoff or Ersatzleder.