Recently there was a discussion on the German contract rifles delivered to Turkey during 1917 and 1918; with the help of Jon Speed we have much more information about the circumstances of this contract and delivery.
When the war expanded with the Turkey’s entry into the war on Germany’s side, Turkey was isolated, along with Bulgaria, from her allies by Serbia and Rumania, which was neutral until August 1916. This caused enormous logistical problems for the Central Powers, both Bulgaria and Turkey were heavily dependant upon supplies from Germany, especially critical was ammunition. While Rumania had strong economic ties to Germany and some things in common with A-H, she increasingly became hostile to the Central Powers due to British and French intrigue. While trade with Germany never ended prior to August 1916, the transit of supplies from Germany and Austria to Bulgaria and Turkey had been repeatedly disrupted and hampered.
While the campaign against Rumania (Rumania declared war and attacked the Central Powers first) was a long one, the main goals of the Central Powers were quickly achieved. The Rumanian Army was completely unprepared for war; it was poorly trained, and led and quickly overwhelmed by the German and Austrian counter offensive. Generally the Rumanians had the misfortune of taking the offensive under very unfavorable circumstances. First, it depended heavily on French aid and promises; secondly the Rumanians were hardly on good terms with their Russian allies whose help they would need. Lastly and most importantly, they probably didn’t think the Germans would pull the stops out and take such an aggressive stance when they declared war. The Germans had new leadership and fully understood the implications of Rumania’s entry into the war. Rumania was a significant exporter of food and oil, two things Germany dearly needed to continue the war, further the supply of her allies Turkey and Bulgaria were increasingly a pressing problem.
The campaign waged against Rumania and her quick defeat was largely due to these things, General von Falkenhayn’s memoirs specifically mentioned the necessity of establishing a reliable supply route to Turkey as a major consideration. By late December 1916, the campaign against Rumania was going exceedingly well, the supply lines were clear and the remnants of the Rumanian & Russian Armies were driven well east of Bucharest and the oil fields.
According to the Mauser Archives and research done by Jon Speed, starting in March 1917 and lasting through August 1918, there were more than 25 deliveries of Gewehr98’s and bayonets destine to supply the Turkish Army. Most of the deliveries were in lots of 2,000-2,500 rifles, but deliveries included spare barrels also. Every delivery was delivered to the Arsenal at Spandau, and then shipped to Turkey. This makes sense due to the nature of the supply route and the fact that there are non-Mauser Oberndorf made Gewehr98’s that made it to Turkey.
By examination of known rifles, most “Turkish” Gewehr98’s start showing up around the “g” block of 1917, many earlier rifles are known, some even dated 1916, but generally the first consistent range that is reliable from this Turkish contract starts in the “g” block. That isn’t to say every Mauser/1917 after the “f” block is a Turkish rifle, far from it, a good number of rifles that have signs of German service are intermixed well into 1918, but generally a large percentage of 1917-1918 dated rifles that have survived have signs of Turkish service. This fits well with what we know of the contract (beginning in March 1917) and known serial ranges of Mauser’s production during 1917. It is estimated Mauser made around 280,000 rifles in 1917, or about 23,300 on average a month, which the “g” block works out to about 70,000 rifles or three month of production.
Lastly, there is an number of unusual Mauser Oberndorf made Gewehr98’s that seem to have evidence that they were once sniper rifles, about eight are known, all are in the 1917 Mauser Oberndorf “n” block, all have drilled receivers and bridge, and all are typically in better condition than the run of the mill “Turkish” used Gewehr98 usually encountered. It is known that Mauser Oberndorf did not supply these rifles as “sniper rifles”, and it seems most probable that these rifles were used by German soldiers who served in the Turkish theater of operations and then turned them over to the Turks as they departed at the end of the war.
02/12/2013
The Military Rifle Journal 