Feldspade

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German spade model 1898

The feldspade is a short variant of the spade . He is of soldiers to dig earthworks as protecting bowl and combat status, even trench or foxhole used. A variant of the feldspar is the folding spade . The spade handle and spade blade are connected by a hinge on the folding spade , which means that the device can be folded up and takes up less space. In the past, the term bulwark was also used . In both world wars and still today the short feldspade is used as a close combat weapon .

History and use

Roman pioneer spade blade

Even in ancient times, military units carried entrenchment tools with them. It is known, for example, from ancient sources and archaeological findings that Roman army units expanded their camps and positions with extensive earthworks. Military bulwarks, such as the rutrum , were part of the basic equipment for the Roman soldier. For him, entrenchment work was part of practical training and practice. The archaeological findings know hundreds of practice camps, which are often found around large forts.

The inventor of the modern feldspar is the Danish officer Mads Johan Buch Linnemann . His Feltspade (Danish for Feldspade ) or Den Linnemannske Spade (M.1870) was patented in 1870 and introduced into the Danish army. Linnemann traveled all over Europe and presented his invention to various military commanders. A factory was built in Austria-Hungary for the construction of his feldspar. The Russian army introduced the feldspade as the MPL-50 . Edmund Zalinski also designed a feldspade for the US Army .

Germany

Imperial Army

Model 1874

The feldspade M1874
The spade model 1898 (front)
The spade model 1898 (back)
Machine gun companies of the imperial army received smaller versions of the spade

At the beginning of April 1874, field tests were reported that were carried out “with the so-called Linnemann's spade introduced into the Danish army” . It was planned to purchase large quantities of the spade if the attempt failed. During this time some officers wrote against the introduction of the spade, for example in August of the same year. At that time there were already a number of those in charge who viewed trench warfare and the bringing of trenches to the enemy as the quintessence of the coming warfare, which was denied by other parties, as the offensive moment was lost for them. Rather, this faction saw the trench as a defensive means. That is why the opponents of the feldspar saw it being carried along by the infantryman as a "misfortune" , since the mobility of the troops would suffer as a result of the additional stress on the individual. It was also criticized that the soldier could only use the short feldspade while kneeling, which is an uncomfortable position for digging. The feldspade opponents assumed that a Prussian company could do the same with fewer spades of normal size. The image of the soldier crouching and digging in front, which other officers already had in view as a future scenario due to the advancement of weapon technology, had not yet reached many of those responsible. In many cases the image of the classic line infantryman was obviously still present.

Due to the positive field tests, the German Empire introduced the spade according to the Linnemann system as a portable bulwark on November 26th, 1874 by the highest imperial decree for infantry and hunter battalions. With the designation portable bulwark , the 0.70 to 0.77 kilogram heavy spade made of ash wood and hardened cast steel sheet differed from the large bulwark . The sheath for the M1874 feldspade enclosed the spade blade and had a strap that had a 3.2 centimeter wide eyelet for the spade handle 23 centimeters above the sheath. The portable bulwark was hung over the right shoulder, the saber belt, the two knapsack straps and the haversack straps, and lay against the left pocket of the field skirt. The end of the handle of the bulwark pointing to the right and up was thus located between the coat roll and the knapsack.

Model 1887

The first successor model (M87) appeared in 1887, although it was actually just a different way of carrying with a new spade pocket. Since the order of March 3, 1887, the portable bulwark has been pushed onto the paddock behind the rifle shoe. In this way, those responsible adopted, among other things, in a similar form the way of carrying the spade, which was common in Austria from the start.

Models 1898

In 1898 (M98) the next spade model appeared, the main difference being that it had a reinforced step edge that was riveted to the left and right of the spade blade. Instead of the metal ring that had previously held the grommet together, this task was now taken over by a workpiece cut from sheet steel. Forged together in a ring in the area of ​​the spout, this sheet metal was secured by a rivet point on the wooden shaft of the handle, like the original ring. The rivet head was flattened at this point and at the rivet point of the grommet that was higher up in the model 98, since the semicircular rivet heads could rub against the man when walking.

In World War I , all three models were used, and - ground sharp - a fearsome weapon in the war grave of man against man. Since the British, in contrast to the other countries, did not have a handy feldspade, but used a construction that first had to be put together and was a mixture of pickaxe and feldspade, German feldspades were a popular prey weapon.

Reichswehr

The M98 spade, now known as a small entrenchment , was retained in unchanged form by the Reichswehr. The spade had a slightly curved rectangular blade to which a spout was attached by means of five rivets, which took a short natural-colored wooden handle. The total length of the bulwark was around 55 centimeters, the blade itself was around 20 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide. The sheath for the spade consisted of a blackened or gray leather frame that remained open at the bottom. The spade blade could be pushed in there. The spade could be fixed in the sheath by means of a leather strap with a pin buckle sewn to the frame and looped around the upper shaft of the spade. At the upper end of the spade pocket, two leather loops were sewn in, with which the bulwark could be transported. Spades with pointed blades were also given out. In these cases, the sheath for the spade was made to taper at the top. These bags only had a leather loop at the tapered end point. As the order of August 2, 1921 stipulated, the spade pushed onto the belt sat on the rear left hip, the side rifle was pulled onto the belt between the two handles of the spade pocket and lay over it. The side rifle scabbard was worn in front of the loop in the case of the pointed cases. The leather strap with pin buckle was pulled around the scabbard and the spade shaft after the side rifle and spade had been put on, and both objects were fixed with it.

Wehrmacht

After resistance welding found its way into serial production at the beginning of the 1930s , welded versions of the spade came to the troops for the first time. Instead of the previous five rivets that connected the spade blade to the socket, this feldspade had five welding points. The metal ring, which was fixed with a rivet and which also enclosed the grommet on the original model, was missing. For the first time, the step edge on the spade blade was completely flanged.

With the order of January 26, 1938 (HV 38C, No. 82), the use of artificial leather for the spade pockets was ordered for reasons of economy. Leather was still provided for the carrying straps and fastening straps. The order of November 12, 1938 (HV 38C, No. 1038) announced the introduction of a collapsible bulwark , the folding spade. This was to replace the previous feldspade in the future. The aim was to be able to use a more comfortable feldspade, as the folding spade could, among other things, be equipped with a longer wooden handle without increasing the stowage length. The folding spade, which had a pointed blade, had a length of around 70 cm when unfolded and 50 cm when folded. This sheet could be fixed in three positions by means of a union nut made of Bakelite . In addition to the vertical position, it was now possible to position the handle in the direction of the handle and at a 90-degree angle to the handle made of wood. This meant that the spade could also be used as a hoe. The German folding spade shaped the genus and is considered the forefather of this spade model. The way it works has been copied worldwide. In addition to the folding spade, the older, "standing" model remained much more common in Germany during the Second World War . The advantage over the folding spade was its simpler, faster and therefore cheaper production method, which countered the shortage of many goods, especially during the further course of the war. The black lacquered metal of the actual spade blade was pushed into a leather or imitation leather case on both the older model and the folding spade. With the folding spade, the carrier bag was pointed at the bottom and square at the top and was made of black or field gray leather or synthetic leather. During the war, the cover of most folding spades was made of olive-colored canvas with loops made of webbing. In contrast to the previous feldspade, the spade blade of the folding model was pushed into the case from above. From the outside the construction was held in place by a cross strap. The upper opening was secured by an unbuttoned vertical strap. A wide wrist loop was sewn or riveted on the side facing the body. In order to save money, this protective cover was replaced in the course of the war with blackened specimens made from pressed material, a substitute material made from specially layered and treated paper pulp. The spade covers, made as a frame, originally had a rectangular recess on the front and back in the middle through which the spade itself was visible. Both spade models were pushed onto the paddock using the carrying straps on the cases and carried behind the left hip. Depending on the manufacturer, the covers could have one or two fastening loops. In the case of versions with two loops, the bag for the side rifle was pushed in between, on models with one loop, the side rifle pocket came over it. The buckle strap of the spade pocket, which was placed diagonally on the outside, was made extra long to hold the side gun in place at the same time. In addition to these best-known forms of the bulwark at that time, standing spades with pointed blades were still in use. Other spades and bags that deviated from the norm were sometimes carried by non-military organizations during the Third Reich and were also used by the military in the course of the increasingly difficult supply situation. That is why there were also spade bags with a rear frame made entirely of leather, or bags made of canvas with webbing loops.

Federal Border Guard

The Federal Border Police (BGS), established on March 16, 1951, followed a further developed Prussian line in its visual design, whereby the developments of the German army that took place up to 1945 were partially included in the regulations. The visual appearance of the German soldier continued in the BGS. This was also due to the feasibility at the time, which only allowed small financial jumps. The standing feldspade in its last stage of development and the German M38 folding spade were therefore still used and only slowly supplemented by newly created replicas. The BGS folding spade therefore always looked very similar to the M38 model. The same applied to the standing feldspade, which was reissued in the pre-war welded version. The black leather sheaths were sewn and partly also riveted. The previously white waxed sewing thread of the leather goods was now dyed black by default. In addition, stamps often indicated post-war production. The spade blade was also painted black again in the early replicas. The M38 folding spade, which was later preferred, was issued in a BGS green version over the years.

armed forces

Folding spade of the Bundeswehr . The flecktarn pattern was introduced in 1991

The US Army introduced a copy ("M1943") of the German folding spade in 1943. In 1951 this became the intrenching tool, combination , which has an additional narrow heel tip. The lightweight intrenching tool, which can be folded in two ways, followed in 1967 . The Bundeswehr, founded in 1955, abandoned most of the German military innovations from the time before 1945 for political reasons and was largely based on the US Army. Therefore, the folding bulwark M1938 was not the model for the Bundeswehr's folding spade, but the US model 1951 developed from the American copy. The Bundeswehr, however, did without the screw nut from the original model and instead used a lock with the help of a spring-loaded bolt . The current model of the Bundeswehr is also a copy of the American model from 1967. Very early bags for the folding spade were made in a combination of leather and fabric. The continuous back was made of yellow olive fabric, the front was a leather construction. A strap made of webbing secured the spade to the top of the pocket. Instead of the slip-on loop for the belt, the back of the early Bundeswehr model had a wire construction following the Anglo-American pattern, which was not compatible with the old system of the Imperial Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht. With the change from the plain-colored uniform in RAL 6014 (yellow olive) to the Bundeswehr flecktarn from 1990, the spade pockets, which were later made entirely of fabric, were also modified. In addition to a change in appearance, the cases are now issued in a flecktarn pattern.

National Peoples Army

The National People's Army (NVA) of the GDR , founded on March 1, 1956, saw itself entirely in the tradition of the Prussian army and set clear accents in this direction in its appearance and some items of equipment. The fixed feldspade was reintroduced with the case, which has been typical since the imperial era, whereby only rivets were sometimes used instead of seams. However, the feldspars made in the GDR show some significant changes compared to the pre-war model. The typical iron riveted ring that clasps the spade nozzle is missing, as is the widening of the nozzle on the spade blade, which is held together with five rivets. The spade is welded to the blade of the spade from the GDR production.

The NVA was also familiar with the M38 folding spade from the 1960s and adopted its design in a very similar form. The carrying gear was made of gray synthetic leather and only enclosed the edges of the sheet. The leaves were painted green, gray or black, the knurled wheel was made of Bakelite, as in the M38 model. The wooden handle was left unpainted like the pre-war model. Since the 1980s, the spade pockets with fabrics in the streak thread pattern have been issued. Together with the uniform wearing test 85-90 a new version of the spade was presented, which differed from the previous model by the saw blade attached to one side and a hole for pulling nails in the middle of the blade. The sheaths were also made of fabrics printed with thread and completely enclosed the spade blade. Like the uniform, this spade was no longer introduced.

Austria

The feldspade from the manufacturer Glock presented in 1983

The Austro-Hungarian monarchy was one of the first countries to equip its soldiers with Linnemann's spades. As early as February 25, 1870, when Germany only had large bulwarks - and too few of them - the entire second section of the Austrian infantry was equipped with the feldspade on imperial orders. As a special feature, the Austrian model had a saw back on one side of the blade and a sharp edge on the other. This spade could also be used as a yardstick. Basically there were otherwise hardly any differences to the German model, which was only introduced in 1874. Right from the start, the Austrian spade was carried in a sheath with a short suspension on the waist strap, so that the wooden spade handle pointed downwards. The spade was carried over the bayonet.

After the re-establishment of the Austrian Armed Forces in 1955, a folding spade was reintroduced in addition to the standing spade. When the production of the Austrian flecktarn pattern began in 1957 , spade bags were also made from fabric printed with it. The sheaths had a wide, riveted loop on the back to carry them on the waist strap. The execution of the Austrian folding spade with the designation K4, which very quickly became the standard model of the army, was based heavily on the 1938 model. The handle was made of wood, the metal parts, often also the handle, were painted in the olive tone of the Austrian army. With the introduction of the solid-colored suit 75 in RAL 7013 (brown-gray) in 1975, the spade pockets were also produced in the corresponding color. The use of the Austrian Flecktarn came to an end in 1978.

The Austrian Glock folding spade , presented in 1983 , uses a plastic handle instead of a wooden handle. This saved additional weight. In addition, the idea of ​​the original Austrian feldspar as a combination tool was taken up again and - this time in the handle - a saw was attached. In addition to the Austrian army, this spade is also used by Denmark.

Russia

Despite the final victory of the Russian Empire , those responsible became aware during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 how backward their own army was, also in terms of sufficient bulwarks. By order of June 20th (July 2nd, 1878) the spade was introduced according to the Linnemannian pattern and the first instructions for this were issued on June 5th, 1879. As the MPL-50 model, the spade was used beyond the Soviet Union to the present day.

Other countries

In Switzerland there were not only positive voices but also criticisms of the Feldspaten. A lieutenant believed in 1876 that there could be problems with the application of the small feldspade in the mountains. In addition to the weight to be borne by the soldier so far, he said: "... if you hang this piece of furniture from Linnemann's spade on him, it seems to us to qualify as a useless torment of the soldier." Therefore, the spade shouldn't be introduced.

From 1877 Romania distributed a Linnemannian spade to its troops based on the Austrian model, while France, England and Turkey, among others, refrained from introducing a spade for infantrymen in the 1880s.

  • Soldier digging a trench

  • MPL-50 models from 1917 and 1939

  • Soviet post-war model

Trivia

In Bundeswehr circles, the folding spade is also called “hand excavator”, see soldiers' language . The expression "Klappspaten" is also used as a swear word and a despicable term for people.

See also

literature

  • The new portable bulwark of the German Infantry. In: Organ of the Military Scientific Associations XII. Volume Vienna 1876, pp. 53–55.

Web links

Commons : Klappspade  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Feldspaten  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

  1. ^ Correspondences . In: Oesterreichisch-Hungarian Military Papers , Volume 1, Prochaska, Teschen 1874, p. 356.
  2. ↑ Military Time and Matters of Disputes - Trenches and Infantry Spades. In: Military weekly paper. 62/1874, p. 592.
  3. ↑ a b Review of: Instructions for the use of the infantry spade. (According to Limmemann system.), Vienna 1873 . In: Militär-Wochenblatt 65, 1874, p. 621.
  4. ^ Wilhelm Roth , Rudolf Lex (ed.): Handbook of the military health care. Volume 3, published by August Hirschwald, Berlin 1877, p. 117.
  5. ↑ a b The new portable bulwark of the German infantry. In: Organ of the Military Scientific Associations XII. Volume Vienna 1876, pp. 53-55; here: p. 54.
  6. ↑ Reiner Herrmann: Uniforms of the German infantry 1888 to 1914 in color . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-613-02292-3 , p. 84.
  7. ^ Adolf Schlicht, Jürgen Kraus: The German Reichswehr. Uniforms and equipment of the German Reichsheer from 1919 to 1932. Militaria, 2005, ISBN 3-902526-00-9 , p. 387.
  8. ↑ a b c Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: The German Wehrmacht. Uniforms and equipment 1933-1945. Volume 1: Das Heer ., Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-613-01390-8 , p. 403.
  9. ^ A b Adolf Schlicht, John R. Angolia: The German Wehrmacht. Uniforms and equipment 1933-1945. Volume 1: Das Heer ., Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-613-01390-8 , p. 404.
  10. ^ Agustin Saiz: Equipment & Personal Items of the German Soldier 1939-45. Casemate, Drexel Hill / Berkshire 2008, ISBN 978-1-932033-96-0 , p. 146.
  11. ↑ Digression UTV 85-90. Field service clothing of the uniform wearing attempt 85-90. In: Krauss surface camo. flaechentarn-kraus.hpage.com, accessed June 14, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Proposals for simplifying and increasing infantry pioneering activity . New military sheets . 24/1884, pp. 12-23; here: p. 13.
  13. ^ Report on the army of Russia. 1878. therein: Introduction of portable, light bulwarks to the infantry . In: Annual reports on the army and warfare , 5th year, 1878 (1879), p. 207.
  14. ↑ a b Suggestions for simplifying and increasing infantry pioneering activity . New military sheets . 24/1884, pp. 12-23; here: p. 14.
  15. ↑ G. Schneider: The Linnemann'sche spade as a portable pioneer tool of our infantry. In: Allgemeine Schweizerische Militär-Zeitung. Organ of the Swiss Army , 13/1876, pp. 101–102; here: p. 102.
  16. ↑ War News . In: Fremd -Blatt (Abend-Blatt) 284/1877, p. 2 (without page number).