Object numberM2019/057:008
CreatorE. & F. Horster (manufacturer)
DescriptionLuftwaffe dagger 2nd model manufactured by E. & F. Horster of Solingen. Luftwaffe daggers were ceremonial only, meant to be worn at special events such as parades, dinner parties, weddings, etc. This dagger was collected as a souvenir by Harry Wigglesworth, a Corporal in the British Army who was stationed at Oldenburg in Northwest Germany at the end of World War II. He recalls that the dagger was most likely traded for cigarettes. Harry served in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, and was part of the British forces who liberated Bergen Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945.
Harry was born 6 July 1916 in Leeds, Yorkshire County, England, to Thomas Henry and Mary Ellen Wigglesworth. He and his brother Harold joined the Army Reserves just before war broke out in August 1939. Harry volunteered to join a transport division as a dispatch rider. At end of 1941, He was sent to a training battalion as an instructor of an army camp in Wiltshire. In 1943 he joined an armoured division that experimented with new tanks, during which time he was badly injured in a motorbike accident. After recovering he was transferred to a light accac division in the Allied 21st Army Group, a combined British-Canadian unit including the British 11th Armoured Division. He arrived in Normandy and his group was attached to the 5th Tank Division of the Canadian army. It was his job to supply the tanks with ammunition and petrol.
When they came to Bergen-Belsen, Harry recalls the “terrible smell” which lingered in the air around the clock. “I saw all the ovens, all the skeletons, all the piles of bodies, I saw all that.” Harry recalls of his experience “We’d just done six years of war; we thought we’d seen everything. I had nightmares for over two years when I got home. Terrible.”
Harry was born 6 July 1916 in Leeds, Yorkshire County, England, to Thomas Henry and Mary Ellen Wigglesworth. He and his brother Harold joined the Army Reserves just before war broke out in August 1939. Harry volunteered to join a transport division as a dispatch rider. At end of 1941, He was sent to a training battalion as an instructor of an army camp in Wiltshire. In 1943 he joined an armoured division that experimented with new tanks, during which time he was badly injured in a motorbike accident. After recovering he was transferred to a light accac division in the Allied 21st Army Group, a combined British-Canadian unit including the British 11th Armoured Division. He arrived in Normandy and his group was attached to the 5th Tank Division of the Canadian army. It was his job to supply the tanks with ammunition and petrol.
When they came to Bergen-Belsen, Harry recalls the “terrible smell” which lingered in the air around the clock. “I saw all the ovens, all the skeletons, all the piles of bodies, I saw all that.” Harry recalls of his experience “We’d just done six years of war; we thought we’d seen everything. I had nightmares for over two years when I got home. Terrible.”
Production placeSolingen, Germany
Production date 1937 - 1946
Subjectnazi memorabilia, military service
Object nameknives
Materialsteel, brass, aluminium, cellulosic, fibres (fabrics)
Dimensions
- width: 83.00 mm
height: 430.00 mm
hanger length: 271.00 mm
Language
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Harry Wigglesworth