IMPERIAL GERMAN DELUX QUALITY NAVAL OFFICERS DAGGER BELONGING TO CAPTAIN EHLERS WITH RARE PRIVATE PURCHASE SCABBARD AND DAMASCUSE BLADE WITH PRESENTATION INSRIPTION.
Superb deluxe naval officers dagger belonging to Captain Gustav Ehlers with a fascinating history connected to England, he took part in the naval attack on several English coastal towns in 1914. Open crown brass pommel and Imperial style crossguard still retain traces of the original gilt finish. Beautiful bone grip has several old hairline cracks which are normally seen on these grips. Superb matching private purchase scabbard features panels of oakleaves and acorns and it is extremely attractive and in fine condition. The fine quality damascuse blade is in superb condition and it is the maiden hair style, the detail to the blade is exceptional, the obverse side of the blade is beautifully engraved, BIELER S/L EHLERS (Bieler presented the dagger to his dear friend Ehlers). Captain Ehlers was born on the 14.12.1885, he joined the German navy on the 6.4.1904 which interestingly was the same date as Bieler also Joined. Ehlers was promoted to Lieutenant on 28.9.1907, senior Lieutenant on the 16.10.09 and Captain on the 17.10.1915. He served on a number of Battleships before WW1 and in early 1914 was Inspector of the naval school at Flensberg. In August 1914 he became the Captain of the Cruiser Hamburg serving as the flagship and part of the escort for the north sea U.boat flotilla. On the 15th and 16th of December 1914 the Hamburg participated in the naval bombardment of the English towns of, Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in which much damage was inflicted on the towns with 592 casualties, of whom 137 died, the attack caused public outrage towards the German navy for an attack mostly conducted against civilians,private buildings and homes. During the battle of Jutland in 1916 the Hamburg was a part of the scouting group. On the 28th of August 1916 Ehlers was awarded the iron cross 1st class. From 3.3.1917 Ehlers served at the naval torpedo school for several months, he then served on a number of ships until the end of WW1 and was with the fleet at Scape Flow when the German naval fleet was scuttled. Checking the 1914 / 1918 naval rank list there is only one officer by the name of Bieler listed but several named Ehlers, but i can say for certainty that the dagger belonged to, Kapitanleutnant Gustav Ehlers, the reason for this is that Bieler and Ellers joined the navy on the same date and strangely even many of there promotions were on the same date, the other offers named Ehlers were much younger officers and almost certainly had no contact with Bieler. Captain Bieler served as a U.Boat officer and during WW1 as mentioned above Captain Ehlers served on the cruiser Hamburg as the escort captain for the North sea U.Boats which Bieler was probably also serving with, this is probably just a coincidence but still interesting.The dagger comes with some research concerning Kapitanleutnant Gustave Ellers. This is a dagger with historical importance because of the connection to the attack on the coastal towns of England and so this dagger should probably be on display in a museum in England, especially perhaps Scarborough town museum. [Condition: Near Mint]
Code: 34403