The Netherlands military acquired some 4,000 Luger pistols from Deutsch Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) in 1906, and required a further 6,000 of the same model after the end of the 1914-1918 War.  The provisions of the Treaty of Versailles prevented Germany from supplying the pistols, but the Vickers Armament Company in Britain provided Lugers against a Dutch order.  They were the 4"-barrel model chambered for the 9 x 19mm (Parabellum) cartridge and were identical with the German product except for the VICKERS LTD marking on the toggle, and of course the British proof marks.

The Vickers Luger was the standard issue pistol of the Koninklijike Nederlandsche Indische Leger (Royal Netherlands Indies Army) and remained on issue in the Netherlands East Indies until the islands were overrun by the Japanese in February 1942.  Although Lugers with Vickers markings are something of a rarity today, the author has seen two examples.  One was in a small museum at Ambarawa in central Java, and the other was in the collection of firearms held at the old NT Police Headquarters on Bennett Street in Darwin.

One authority on Vickers Ltd stated in 1994 that the pistols were sent to Britain from Germany in an incomplete state to be finished by Vickers, but this is still a matter of some debate.  Did Vickers manufacture the Lugers, or were they simply assembled by Vickers from parts provided from Germany, perhaps after some finishing work?  If any reader should have further information on the origin of the Vickers Lugers, the author would very much like to hear it.