Kaiserliche Schutztruppen G98 - for the German Camel Corps
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Germany established their colony of German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika, now Namibia) in 1884, as part of its late attempt to become a colonial power to rival the United Kingdom. The soldiers deployed to protect German interests t here were the Kaiserliche Schutztruppen, and they were few in number and armed with a variety of rifles. Most had Mauser 1871 Jager rifles, single shot black powder arms. The best off, however, were outfitted with new Mauser 98 rifles when the German military adopted the G98. A special batch was made for these colonial troops, with a few distinctive features - a bent bolt handle and sights calibrated down to 200m. And yes - they were used by troops mounted on camels!
When World War One broke out, the fighting in Namibia ended fairly quickly, with the German forces soundly defeated by South Africans under General Jan Smuts in the summer of 1915. Fighting in the other German colonies (especially German East Africa, now Tanzania) would last much longer.
A slight correct to the video: 10,000 of these rifles were actually in German South West Africa by 1908, but 8,000 of them were destroyed by the German forces prior to surrendering in 1915. The German armed force was small, but extra troops had been deployed to the area in response to the Herero Wars in 1904, and they left their rifles behind when they returned to Germany afterwards.
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In the words of Cpt. Blackadder:
“The British Empire at present times covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganika.”
EdM240B Blackadder was a Captain not a sergeant my good man.
MrNewAbortion1 My word! You’re correct! Haven’t seen the series in awhile
DID SOMEBODY SAY SAUSAGE?
Sir I have a cunning plan...
He obviously forgot the brewery in Tsingtao.
I actually have our gewehr 98. My family comes from German South West Africa and my great great grandfather served with the schutztruppe their. Our rifle is a 1901 model and has a light coloured wood stock. Ours also has 2 stamps on the receiver of the union defence force of South Africa and the Kimberly regiment from when it was captured during the first world war. Even still have some original stripper clips. That rifle is my pride and joy. Best part is all serial numbers match and nothing was sportirised.
It was made in Spandau.
@@dbs4898 I have the same, light coloured wooden stock rifle, number 7372, Spandau 1901, with the UDF markings as well, numbers match down to the screw heads and I very regularly hand load ammo for it and shoot it.
I'll bet Ian mouth is watering 😆
Schutztruppen:
Literally Guard or Protection Troops
Protectorate would be the best translation I think.
@@theodorkorner1497 I assume they functioned like a gendarmerie
@@Bitemis : There was Schutztruppe as light military force, and Kaiserliche Landespolizei as police force. In Togo there was only Kaiserliche Landespolizei. When ww1 started, the Landespolizei was transformed into Schutztruppe. Note: With exeption of black policemen, real german policemen had been up to early 1920s former soldiers, Unteroffizier or higher, so no problem for them, to serve as soldiers.
protecting the kaiser's interests and the german settlers, of course
I am so happy that camel corps existed. Just imagining them sees them such joy.
Next up: german storm troops riding giant rabbits
The US had a camel corps too in the late 19th century. There is still a herd of camels that roam the desert in the Southwest even today as the army abandoned them.
It wasn't fun in reality though. The first genocide of the 20th century was carried out by these very troops against the Herero and and Nama:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_genocide
As amusing it might be, I'd imagine it was rather less so when they were all charging at you through the desert.
Germans on camels is humourlessness squared!
Wow Ian! You got pretty excited about this one. Sorry you didn’t get it. Awesome video though.
He was almost giddy at times
Yeah he was.
How about a "Forgotten History" on the exploits of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck? Now there's a good story.
id love it.
Jah...he was in charge when the germans were decapitating locals for "science"...sending pickled heads to berlin..He was also in charge when the germans killed off thousands of local folk, the burial sites make a fascinating fly-over at dawn( shadows ).
Yip, the colonial germans were good .
Oh,if you are going to build a railway NORTH to cairo, why would you start by heading WEST for a few hundred miles when you already had rail lines to nothern rhodesia?
You don't like the brits, thats fine, but at least think.
Count me in for that one. One hell of a story.
If I am remembering correctly, there was one of these rifles in the old J.M. Browning Museum back when it was at the Rock Island Arsenal. I used to go there with my father every time we went to visit my grandmother in Davenport. We would walk across the bridge and go to the museum to see what was new several times a year up until it was moved from the Arsenal.
You can tell when Ian is truly excited by a find and when he is "just" providing historical retoric.
+Forgotten Weapons that letter following the serial number is neither an E nor a C, but a small letter L. The Kurrent letters e and c look substantially different.
Mirdarion - Hi and thanks! I looked at it for a while and my brian wouldn't accept c or e ... now i know why! First thought of going somehow france (C)aiser or (C)olonie or at least (E)xport or (E)xpedition - so what does (L) mean?
I think its just a part of the serial number. They only stamped four digits, so when reaching 9999 they would start over at 0001 and add a letter (abc...etc.)
Yeah it's a script type L, you still see it sometimes in some countries as a symbol for Liters/Litres.
@@stephanhan9729 Kaiser is allways written with K.
Karl won the rifle, explaining why he unfriended Ian and went to Hard as Hell 2 Gun with KE Arms instead.
Those German colonies were enough to prevent the British from completing their colonial bingo and building a railroad from South Africa to Egypt. :P
Well..them and the Portuguese...and the Belgians.
and French
R C The Portuguese wanted to make a single colony going from the East coast to the West coast but the British wanted to build the railway so they threatened war if that ever happened. The Portuguese government ceded the land to the British, creating a lot of public outcry and making the monarchy look weak, which lead to the public assassination of king Carlos I and his son.
Diogenes D'Sinope Not really...it was just an opportune moment. The assassins were republicans and wanted to get rid of the monarchy. After Portugal ceded their territory to the British, they figured public opinion would turn against the royals (which it did) and would be a good time to assassinate them.
The Belgian Congo would be in the war, no? What was going on with that during this time-period?
It looks very similar to the Radfahrer gewehr (bicyclist rifle). The only differences being that the Radfahrer gewehr had a regular G98 rear sight, a side mounted sling and a screw instead of a spring holding the rear band on.
The use of those bucket - like scabbarts for holding the buttstock was not restricted to the tiny camel troop. All the Schutztruppe in South-West Africa used such buckets. The Schutztruppe there was mounted infantry, the soldiers called Reiter = riders. As their enemies there, the Herero and - even more so - the Nama were very proficient marksmen, the Schutztruppe needed long rifles for precision shooting.
200 meters is a much more sensible battlesight zero than 400, or even worse the US Springfield's 547 yard BZO.
Bob Rees I am pretty sure that the Springfield is a 347 yard battle zero still way too long for most actual combat or hunting applications.
How much difference does it make to the point of impact when you are aiming for the center of mass of a human target? My guess is that it doesn't make any practical difference at all. I think it's better to have the sites set at a point where you are going to make a kill over the widest possible range. 400 likely does that. Anything from 100 to 500 meters and you likely don't need to adjust your sites to hit the target. Shooting beyond 500 likely never (or very rarely) happened in action.
No need to quess, Minute Man. Any ballistics program will tell you. A 400m battlesight, at ranges up to that 400m, may indeed give you a hit on an enemy standing upright, true. However, not all targets are going to be standing up. An enemy in his foxhole @150m, showing only his head, is going to be a challenge with that 400m zero.
Good point, didn't think of that.
@@minuteman4199 god I love the civil discussions here
I regularly shoot my Gew 98, KS4349 unit identification, and it still shoots to the point of aim where the front sight was registered in 1805 after rebarelling to 8.2 mm.
Very cool! What year and armory is the rifle? The hard core Mauser enthusiasts track that sort of info. Hope you find the matching bayonet some day!
@@vitis65 Manufactured at Spandau in 1901. Number 7372, numbers match even on the screw heads
I have found Ian a font of gun knowledge, certainly happy to donate 2 quid a month to the kitty in order to keep this chan going strong.
I feel bad for you. Such an awesome gun!
They also had some fancy uniforms imo
Best uniforms of german colonial forces was worm by troops in current Papua- Neuguinea.
Very cool! Condolences on your loss ;)
Surprising many of these are still around. Bouncing around on a camel in Namibia must have been pretty rough use. But very nice to see one and learn about it.
Just got one of these and this video helped. Many thanks !!!
Well done, good research Ian, but there were more than just 2500 soldiers down there in Africa, I mean don't ever forget the Askari-Soldiers who did a great military service for the German empire, ok I agree that these men were surely involved in many cruel things, sadly, but I wanted to talk about their loyalty and bravery. It is also interesting that many (or most??) of those black soldiers were armed with a Mauser single loader even during the 1ww. That's very impressive.
As a Mauser fan this was a treat.
I’m just curious how many other Mauser Variations are out there?
Approximately all of them...
doktormusmatta
best answer ever
Ian did a book review on one of the collectors books thats actually affordable, the Paul Mauser biography is also probably going to be interesting if this stuff is up your alley..
www.forgottenweapons.com/book-review-mauser-military-rifles-of-the-world/
One MILLION models
3 or 4 variations for every south american country, dozens in africa and asia, millions in germany
Bolt rifles took a while to gain popularity in the Wyoming mountains because of the scabbard issue. Our grandfathers stuck with large bore lever actions because of that.
Your photo of the camel trooper is interesting- that scabbard arrangement looks awkward, and was never meant for forests.
Commiserations on not getting it, but thanks for making this back up video so we get to see it anyway!
I’m just going to pretend I didn’t just see one of those at a gun show in Virginia two weeks ago so I don’t feel bad for not buying it
That guy over there
What was the asking price?
Am I the only person seeing the little skull on the upper screw on the lange vizier sight? This rifle is awesome.
Who bought this rifle?
Gun Jesus should be allowed first pick on everything 😉.
Wait. Ian made a video reviewing the gun as if he has failed to buy it, be he did not know yet at the time? That is inception.
desertkun I’m sure he shot the video hoping he would never use it....kinda like...if you watching this video I’m probably dead...in the movies
Karl probably won it, and that's why he and Ian are no longer friends!
I have a similar video on my 1918 Chauchat, which will never air because I did win it. :)
Forgotten Weapons you should put it in a "Victory" playlist 😉
You should do a series called "Forgotten battles", im sure alot of people would be interested in that, myself included.
During WWI South Africa was already independent. The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910. The Prime Minister of South Africa was the man who had captured Churchill during the Boer War.
Semi-independent, it was still a Dominion by WWI
The Union was still a dominion of the British Empire. Full independence was obtained when it became a Republic in 1961.. the same level the two Boer republics were at.. before they were annexed.
Had Churchill dies in WW2 Jan Smuts would have been a (small) possibility to replace him as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
No.
In regard to the rear sight, KS rifles weren't special in that sense, they just never received the conversion due to their remote location. The change in the rear sight came with the adoption of the spitzer bullet. This is evident in that 99.9% of rifles made prior to 1904 will have that have a 200 meter sight base but a 400 meter sight leaf. In fact your only chance of owning an original example is a KS rifle, or a pre-1904 rifle made for the commercial market. Arguably the fact this gun has no firing proof means the bolt was never updated either lacking the the lugged firing pin and retaining narrow gas ports. This is really a once in a lifetime rifle.
Interesting. What do you mean by it has no firing proof? It is marked S indicating it was updated for the new spitzer bullet.
Never knew about these subtle differences now i am enlightened.
What really makes this kraut rifle valuable is the serial number beginning with "Nein! Nein!"
this is the earliest i've ever been to any video
Hi, Ian, ever looked at the Portuguese colonial wars? Lots of weird mixed firearms.
I shed a tear for your loss
I love the videos with your own personal collection. I’m bummed that you didn’t win this one.
“So what does the german camel corp do?”
“Schutztruppen!”
I hate that you weren't able to get this one for yourself Ian.
WOW....how rare ....tough luck Ian
I love it when Ian tries to pronounce german words 😂
Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen, you have all just witnessed a FAIL SAFE video. If he had won it at auction, then Ian would have let that tape self destruct, in a safe and friendly manner. As it was, Ian cried 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war, upon us all.
how much did the rifle go for?
War Zone for something that rare I wouldn’t be surprised if it went for $15000 or even $25000
@War Zone No way good condition Gew 98s already go for north of $1-1.5k... This is exponentially rarer.
This feels like some sort of weird time travel video. Reminiscent of Total Recall (which ironically involves no time travel).
Fun fact: After WWII, during the era of Konrad Adenauer, first chancellor of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland aka West Germany, a diplomatic delegation from Kamerun came to Bonn (the former capital of West Germany). In Bonn, they asked the direction for the Bundestag (parliamaent). They wore suits and one wore a tigers skin on top of it.
After they arrived at the parliament, they demanded to be heard and as members of parliament were curious, they let them present their cause. They told the govenrnment and the lawmakers that soon the UN mandate of England to govern Kamerun would end and that the people of Kamerun wished that the Germans retake the reigns of KAmerun as they did so well before WWI...Of course the Germans were not flattered, but hugely embarrassed. Ruling over an african nation shortliy after the brutal submissions of European staes during WWII... No way... Whic h was a pity as I am sure, Kamerun would be one of the most prosperous African nations today with the help and infrastructural investmanet of Germany..
Intersting... I guess Imperial Germany did say somthing you are now all subject to the Kaiser and theoretical they still was subject of (west) Germany. French Guiana show that a "colony" can be treated fair, the native have full citizenship and rights.
Well, the "Prussians" built railways and schools and put all the children to school... Not sure whether the belgian treate kongolese similarly...
Imperial Germany was probably a cruel master, and the locals would be happy to get rid of them, but I can see ther point in being a "colony" to a democratic west Germany.
Actually, the delegation told the members of parliament that the people of Camerun remembered fondly the time when Imperial Germany was their master. Tehy were severe and strict, but not cruel, punishment occured only for misdoings. This may sound patronising, but they saw german colonists as better colonists than english or french... Hard to believe, but nevertheless, the situation was so embarrassing for the german politicians that the delegation was ushered out of the "Bundestag" and were told that Germany would never take the role of a colonial master. They would try to help in any way possible, but no meddling in foreign ruling....
Belgian Congo was a genocidal nightmare.
5:15 Speaking of which, did you ever do a video on the K98AZ? It always struck me as a sort of "granddaddy" to the K98k, but with a stacking hook and a better handguard.
Very awesome rifle! Also never seen ian so excited!
Poor Ian this is like a video last will.
I could buy into the wear spot being from service. Even if the stock was oiled repeatedly in service "as the rest of the stock appears to have been" the "finish" would always be thinner in that area. There's also wear at the wrist and were the support hand would be.
One can also see built up "finish" in the divots on the left side. In short, I can just tell it wasn't done all at one time but over a period of time,,,,from here at least.
In my mind the KS stands for KamelSonderabteilung, Camel force. You can convince me otherwise if you point THAT exact weapon at me.
@5:28 I can't be the only one who thinks the bolt head on the side of the sight looks like a little skull.
Jesus, I’m sorry you couldn’t snag the Camel Corps rifle.
Such good information!!!
The k98 will always be my favorite rifle. I could listen to that bolt for ever. This still gave me a stiffy too though.
tommy you say that because u dont know about, or own a swiss K31 ;)
It almost looks like someone engraved a skull marking on the front sight.
csmaster65 Glad I'm not the only who who sees it
Did the Askari from Schutztruppe used those rifles? They made a very good work in the time of Great War under the commander of Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck and defended the colony of German East Africa very wisely.
The Askari were mainly armed with Mauser 71/88. It was a common use to give native troops older weapons than the european units.
Wait a sec, does that mean that the interesting stuff you manage to buy at the auctions is never uploaded here and you keep the juiciest pieces for yourself?
It means if I buy something I can do a better video at home, when I have more time to do it.
So, what was the final hammer price?
Very interesting, thank you Ian.
Rock Island Auctions a mighty good line?
In response to Ian's unsure-ness on how to pronounce the name of that sight, langevizier is pronounced "Lan-guh-fitz-ear".
Depends on grammar case and singular or plural :-): Das lange Visier, des langen Visiers, dem langen Visier/ die langen Visiere, den langen Visieren, der langen Visiere.
Cool history lesson, thanks Ian
Scary to think that the rifle was used in the Herero wars and the Genocide that took place there.
every Mauser has its place 👌🏻
If you're seeing this video it means I have been murdered LOL!
I have a GEW98 with amberg 1918 and S/42K marking 1937 waffenamt. Came with a KAR98, 1916 erfurt both for $100 from CIA during the mid 90's. those were the best days for curios.
Could you recommend a good resource to learn more about Camel Corps or German Southwest Africa in general? 19th century European colonies fascinate me. Especially those in Africa and the Middle-east.
British Osprey book company has a small book about german colonial forces, in english language.
Any rifle with a g98’s Lange Vizier = godly
...The 'Sturm Abteilung' uniforms of Hitler were the surplus uniforms from the German South West Africa Corps...
I feel a special Patreon is required so Ian can get this gun.
It seems Spandau made these rifles in 1901, and Erfurt made them in 1902.
Sorry that you didn't get the rifle Ian.
(monster voice) FOR THE EMPEROR (monster voice off)
Wonder if the guy who bought it knew what it was or just has a lot of money and an interest in gun collecting.
I have no doubt that whoever bought it recognized what it was.
'May the fleas of a thousand goosestepping camels infest their gun cupboard.'
That new owner should look in his hart and decide the only wise thing to do...
I spent three weeks in Namibia during 2017. Went to three abandoned ghost towns (mining towns). Found some pre-WW1 German items. That may of come back with me 🤫. Every museum I could find, I would check out. Saw three of these rifles, their original leather scabbards too. They unfortunately all seemed to be deactivated. One of the guys I met, was telling me his friend dives a river that Germans threw out tones of equipment, right before they surrendered. Said his friend pulled out a boat load of small arms related parts/ammo. I believe all the rifles I saw in the museums were deactivated because they are private museums. Don’t think the Namibia Gov’t wants too many live rifles in private hands. The one museum that I went to, that was funded by the Namibia gov’t literally had no information about German colonialism. Even though Namibia was officially not part of Germany post WW1, being there was still tones of Germans living there. Nazism definitely existed there. Saw a lot of period photographs dating to WWII with the Swastika flag flying high. FYI if anyone wants to go to Namibia keep in mind.. I experienced quite a bit of racism while in Namibia. Most people thought I was a white Namibia, with German ancestry. I am American and white, but I look very European. Once I said I was an American, most people were much more friendly. Got threatened with a gun, knife, almost mugged like four times. Just be careful.
What colonialism does to a country
namibia still has quite a lot of whites living there (I think many of them even still speak german), with at least as big a racial wealth disparity as south africa, but I think they probably have significantly more stable glvernment than south africa. btw for a long time until the 90s or so, namibia was occupied and administered by apartheid south africa, so white rule there was also a lot more recent than the end of the german empire.
So they thought the colonial troops, who were actually engaged in combat, needed a 200m setting. "Maybe we should apply this experience to the main army? Naaah, of course they don´t need a 200m setting..."
This rifle was made in 1904, when they were just beginning their genocide against the Herero and Nama, which involved a lot of shooting at women and children from up close.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Namaqua_genocide
I know, that´s partly what I´m referring to - German colonial combat and surpression of the natives.
Still quite a small number compared to the genocide by:
Belgium in Kongo: 10-15 million people (Half of the Population)
Great Britain only in India 1857: 10 Million people (UK had more colonies)
Yeah but about 50-80% of the population
And the clear intent to kill an entire people.
Ahhh Gun Jesus saves the day from boredom again. I like guns, but not modern gun "fetishy" stuff. People get really really obsessed with guns, gun tech, accessories, painting, etc etc. I like mechanical things and history. So Ian is AMAZING in this area of firearms.
you mean modern gun fetishy stuff like the WWSD rifle ian and karl put together or the shooting matches they participate in?
Its cool to see ian excited about a gun. Thats how you know its rare
The Germans had a further colony Ruandaurundi, now the countries of Rwanda and Burundi.
Proud too know that my Great Grandfather served in the Schutztruppen in German South West Africa.
Ian got really upset that he could not buy tge rifle :(
i know this pain Ian, I feel you brother.
Namibia is 2.5 times the land mass of Germany but had a minute population, which is why they didn't need that many soldiers.
Why did they not adapt that sight for all the othe G98 when they realized what the war was really like?
I'll never understand how, even after the Germans showed that they could have the turned-down bolt handles, they continued with the straight ones
Maybe C&Rsenal got it, and their video on it will be out tomorrow?:)
That's why Prussia has a unit called something Jager in Napoleon Total War then.
Jäger - german word for "Hunter"
Back in the days where my country wasn't the junkyard of humanity
Gutted for you,would of been cool to add to the wall. Delighted for us, cause we get to see it, #mixedfeelings lol
I wonder what the final price was?
I'm imagining Ian squirreling away notes in guns he doesn't think he'll be able to win, to the effect of "If you are reading this, you outbid me on this rifle; I'd like to do a video, please call me at xxx-xxxx --Ian M." kind of like finding the service members name and address in the buttstock trap of Swiss rifles...
Try the Retornados, Portuguese that were forced out from Angola. You never know WHAT they brought back...
Thank you for a great rifle
I'm mildly curious, as you've given book reviews, have you written any, yourself, Ian?
I am working on my first one right now.
You failed me gun Jesus I thought you would have gotten it
Just out of curiosity, if you had managed to win the bid on that rifle, why wouldn't you have made a video? The historical significance and rarity still stand, regardless of who owns it.
we all want this
I wonder if one of his subscribers won it, and would let Ian borrow it on the range? (same for a lot of the rifles Ian Shows)
you have an excellent knowledge of the Boer War,Ian. Namibia is the best African country to visit,period!
I love all your videos and nothing could ever turn me off of them. But damn am i glad you picked up the proper pronounciation for the Langvisier on your recent travels, the "lunch visier" in older videos was kinds distracting and kinda funny :D