Original Item: Only One Available: This German Enlisted Man's RAD Hewer is in great condition, with nice plated steel mounts on the scabbard. The crossguard has a fine, curled quillon, and it appears as though most of the the original darkening is in the grooves of the quillon. Most of the plating on the steel hilt and pommel is intact, with only minor oxidation, which is rare to see.

The grip plates on this example are genuine stag. The stag shows only minor wear from its years of usage and gives this antler a great, attractive appearance. Both plates are fully intact and have a great color. The stag plates are retained by nickel plated steel screws and spanner nuts, which are in good shape, but do show some oxidation. They do not appear to have been turned in decades, if ever since production.

The blade is the heavy bolo style, being produced in a matte finish, with single fuller on both sides. It has runner wear, and has been cleaned and polished over the years, which has made the matte finish closer to gloss. The blade is correctly still blunt, though it does have a few minor edge nicks, so it may have been used a bit. The Arbeit adelt (Work Ennobles) motto on the obverse is quite deeply etched, and still crisp. It retains about 25% of its original darkening in the letter backgrounds, with the rest worn away due to cleaning.

On the rear of the blade, there is a clear Puma's Head Logo over PUMA in a diamond over SOLINGEN, the trademark logo of Lauterjung & Sohn, Puma-Stahlwarenfabrik / Puma - Werk of Solingen, Germany, the legendary "City of Blades". This is a known producer of SS, SA, and NSKK daggers during the Pre-WWII period and after. This company was originally founded on a small scale in 1796, Nathanael Lauterjung officially opened a cutlery and knife making workshop in Solingen during 1855. After his death, the name was changed and registered as "Puma-Werk", to avoid confusion with the other Lauterjung-owned workshops in Solingen. For more information, please see J. Anthony Carter's work GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout, and has its original, black enamel paint which is showing some age. The paint still has gloss to its surfaces, with wear and the expected crazing from age in areas. The scabbard mounts are steel and plated which is intact in 95% of the area. The lower mount depicts an RAD shovel, with lined surfaces, having a contrasting, smooth mobile swas (hook cross) in the center of the spade. This spade rests between two wheat shafts. The mount is decorated along the borders with beaded circles. The same beaded circles appear on the border of the upper mount, and above these are the RAD curls. These curls are deeply stamped, having good lined backgrounds. The mountings are retained by 4 screws, which do not show any signs of turning.

A great example of a pre-war RAD EM/NCO Hewer, complete with scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 9 3/4"
Blade Style: Single Edged Clip Point Hewer
Overall length: 13 3/4“
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10 1/2"

The basis of the RAD, Reichsarbeitsdienst, (National Labor Service), dates back, at least, to 1929 with the formation of the AAD (Anhalt Arbeitsdienst) and the FAD-B (Freiwillingen Arbeitsdienst-Bayern).  Shortly after AH’s appointment as Chancellor in Jan 1933, the NSDAP consolidated all labor organizations into the NSAD (Nationalsozialist Arbeitsdienst), a national labor service. It served as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarize the workforce and indoctrinate it with NSDAP ideology. It was the official state labor service, divided into separate sections for men and women.

On June 26 1935 the NSAD was officially re-designated RAD. Originally personnel serving with RAD wore a variety of earlier FAD/NSAD belt buckles until February 15TH 1936 when new pattern belt buckles for Officer’s and EM/NCO’s were introduced to provided uniformity in dress.