Swiss steel, dad's M1943 dagger and my Stg bayonet.

J996

J996

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I finally found my dad's M1943 dagger. He was an NCO with Fliegerabwehr (FLAB) in the late 70's and throughout the 80's. He finished his service running a 35mm Oerlikon FLAK gun.

In addition to this dagger, he was allowed to keep his issued SIG P210 pistol when he left the service. Sadly he sold it before leaving Switzerland, wish he had kept it.

The Stg90 bayonet is mine. My exposure to the Swiss military was very brief. I have been in the Canadian Forces for the last 15 years.

The M1943 dagger was made by Elsener Schwyz Victoria which would later become Victorinox. The red and white portepee on this dagger is that of an NCO's. Officer portepee's have a white bulb and a flat red and white ribbon.







The word portepee derives from French port(e)-épée. An early tradition in which officers would carry a sword into battle. This was a knot that they would tie onto their swords.
When horses gave way to tanks and trucks, they did away with the swords. But the sword is also a symbol of authority. In 1941 the Swiss government reintroduced the idea of a short handled weapon for officers and non-commissioned officers. From the spring of 1941 there were many different types of experimental evaluations. The Dolch was reintroduced in 1943. Now known as the M1943 Dagger.
 
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Here is what the officer portepee looks like.

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Cool! So your dad was a company sergeant major?

Did I read that correct that you did your basic training in Switzerland and later joined the CF?
 
Kampfhamster: I don't know what his rank was when he got out but he was one of the senior NCO's. I remember he was a Feldweibel when I was young.

Not one of my coolest stories but my Swiss "service" was a short engagement. We left Switzerland in 1992, by 1996 I was a Canadian citizen and held dual citizenship (I held both Swiss and Canadian passports). In 1998 at age 18 I went home for a few months and was staying at my grandparents place. I had entered the Country with my Swiss passport (all I brought with me) which flagged me when I came in. A week later a jeep showed up looking for me and I was informed I had to go with them. Apparently my name was on the list of guys who don't report for service, so I got a free taxi ride from the MP's. Gongshow ensues and its off to the place where they figure out what you're gonna be. I get Infantry and then it was off to...I think it was Neuchatel area, big hill, tanks, anyway once my grandparents called my mother she lost her mind and raised hell, I got to resume my vacation after I did two weeks. I was very physically fit and liked army stuff so it was ok with me. I was however there to visit family whom I had not seen in years and I did have a job to get back to when vacation was over.

In retrospect I should have stayed and finished it. I wish it had been planned out before i went but that's just not how it happened. It still bothers me that I never did the RS.

A few years later I joined the CF, still there.
 
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Well, that's a story that you can tell your grand-children when you're old.

Thats from back when the MP's would still go around and pick up people if they didn't show up.

I assume you speak german, so they ####ed you over and sent you not only to the infantry, but also to the french speaking infantry.

Sounds like the army (of any country)
 
The language was no problem, I could do french back then (my french is terrible now). Alot of the guys spoke German anyways. They put me on course that was starting right then. I'm trying to remember where exactly it was but I'm pretty sure it was close to lake Neuchatel. We did drill, marching, running, learned the Stgw and then I was gone.

Since then I have always traveled home with my Canadian passport.
 
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