German dagger https://imgur.com/gallery/mARaR So I know my grandfather somehow got this during ww2. The words translate roughly to
else I'm happy to the side band. before sequedin the commander. to banish the war people over the water.
With periods and
Else me happy to the side band before sequedin the commander over the water battles the war people
Without periods
Can someone help me id paul kees an when and possibly where this dagger is from?
Transcription and translation:
--
Als Wehr mich froh an die Seite band
Vor Sequedin der Kommandant
Der über das Wasser dem Kriegsvolk schlägt Bahnen
Paul Kees, Oberleutnant der Kaiserulanen.
--
As a weapon, he bound me to his side, merrily,
the commander, (when we were) in front of Sequedin.
He who across the water makes way for the troops,
Paul Kees, Oberleutnant of the Kaiser-Ulanen.
--
Kaiser-Ulanen was a short name for the 'Königlich Bayerisches 1. Ulanen-Regiment „Kaiser Wilhelm II., König von Preußen“' (1st Royal Bavarian Uhlans "Emperor William II, King of Prussia").
They saw action in the Franco-Prussian war and WW1.
Sequedin is close to Lille, which was occupied by German forces in WW1.
I don't know much about the military, just hoped that a translation may save time for anybody who knows more.
This is more likely than not a WWI dagger, as the person quoted in the script is an Uberleutnant der Kaiser Ulanen... a section that fought in the Austro-Prussian war, The Franco-Prussian war and the first world war. As far as who Kees is, I'm at a loss... I can't find anything on him in any of my online archives.
Hmm.
The inscription seems to be a verse, but I'm struggling to make out some words. What I have so far is:
Als [?] mich froh an der feste Band
Vor (Seguedin?) der Kommandant
Der über das Wasser dem Kriegsvolk schlagt bahnen
Paul Kees - Oberleutnant der Kaisersulanen
Between missing some crucial words, and what seems to be a rather grandiloquent style, I'm only getting snatches of meaning.
"Froh" is happily or joyfully, "der feste band" is a firm or close band: in context I'd guess he's referring to a group of comrades - a band of brothers.
Seguedin is baffling me because it doesn't even look like a German word. Google suggests that it's a tiny place in Burkina Faso but goodness knows if that's relevant.
The Commander, "who across the water defeated the warlike people"
Bahnen can mean a whole bunch of different stuff depending on context I don't have, but usually has a sense of blazing a trail or making progress in some manner.
The only bit that's unambiguous is "Paul Kees - 1st Lieutenant of the Kaiser's Uhlans". Uhlans were a type of light cavalry common in both German and Austro-Hungarian armies up to the end of WW1. There was as far as I can tell no regiment specifically called just the "Kaiserulanen" so it's a generic term, and impossible to tell which nationality we're talking about here.
Googling the text of the verse throws up no hits at all, leading me to suspect it's a bit of doggerel written for the purpose, and that this is a souvenir of some campaign or such. It could have been inscribed as a memento at the time, in which case it's probably pre-WW1, or it could have been for an old boys' reunion many years after the fact, which could put it any time until found by your grandfather in WW2.
No German or Austro-Hungarian troops had AFAIK any reason to be anywhere near the central region of Burkina Faso, so I suspect that's not what "Seguedin" means at all. It makes me wonder if this dates from the Boxer Rebellion and is a mangling of some Chinese name.