British and Commonwealth Military Knives

[Another Knife Collector]

Great thread! everyone has some excellant things to share!

greyelm, according to Levine's guide that Keen Kutter is a contract knife made by Camillus Cutlery for an allied navy either French or Canadian c1915.

My great grandfather served in the navy in WWI. I don't have any equiptment of his unfortunately, but I do have a great war photo album full of his. I'll try to post a couple pictures later if anyone's intersted.

Shown is an E M Dickenson Sheffield knife, I don't beleive it's military.

[greyelm]

Thanks for the information. I'm pleased that it is a Camillus contract knive as I collect Camillus knives. I eventually found the reference in my LG3 (I should have looked before I posted) and mine does have the checkered black fibre handles. I got it for $18 (USD) incl postage, for me thats a good price for a 90 year old knife.

I hope this thread keeps going, there are some interesting knives on show.

[philco]

Great thread!

My great grandfather served in the navy in WWI. I don't have any equiptment of his unfortunately, but I do have a great war photo album full of his. I'll try to post a couple pictures later if anyone's intersted.

I can't speak for the others, but I really enjoy seeing those old photos.

Phil

[Another Knife Collector]

Here's a few shots by my great grandpa Clyde C. Thomas. One shot even has knives in it. Pictures help imagine where some of those old knives have been! Hope you enjoy!

[Mossdancer]

AKC;
All I can say is WOW. If you have more photos please post, you can photo shop these and the resolution can be greatly improved. You have the makings of a terrific blog with a web site. There could be many variations. This appears to be U.S. Navy so as not to hijack Steves thread you might want to start your own.
moss

Edited to add: I wonder if the guy sleeping lived through the throwing. Did anyone else notice the chefs knife stuck beside his left leg.

[gringo]

" I wonder if the guy sleeping lived through the throwing. Did anyone else notice the chefs knife stuck beside his left leg."

i noticed the one by his neck...?

[Mossdancer]

Gringo:
Neat catch, I didn't even look on that side, What do you think was this real or posed? If real that sailor either was not very well liked or had cajones the size of watermelons.
moss
Edit for add: Is that a double ended pocket knife sticking over his right shoulder?

[Another Knife Collector]

I'm glad you enjoy them, I thought those would help picture where some of the knives here might have been. I'll post more later in off topic converstion as to not hijack such a great thread.

To get back on track here's a cute little knife, a Sykes-Fairbairn.

[Mossdancer]

Here is my Sykes and a Made in Sheffield Rope Knife.
moss

[George21]

Whats the purpose of the 'spike' on these knives? I got one today for a couple of quid. Having trouble reading the makers mark but will check back when I have it cleaned up a bit.

It definately says Sheffield on it. And perhaps... Venture or Adventure or something of the sort.

The can opener bit is snapped off but the majority of it remains.

[smiling-knife]

Whats the purpose of the 'spike' on these knives? I got one today for a couple of quid. Having trouble reading the makers mark but will check back when I have it cleaned up a bit.

It definately says Sheffield on it. And perhaps... Venture or Adventure or something of the sort.

The can opener bit is snapped off but the majority of it remains.

Hi George, the marline spike is used for untying knots. Your mark could be Venture. That was the mark of H.M. Slater Sheffield. Looking forward to seeing your knife.

[George21]

Spot on S-K.

Looks like it says VENTURE SLATE BRASS SHEFFIELD.

Or something of the sort. Could be Slater bros or something like that.

Will get some pics now and put them up in a tick.

[George21]

Full blade: http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2985/dscn1183.jpg

Tang stamp: http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1203/dscn1181a.jpg

Also, it has the 'Broad Arrow' ( -> ) on the spike with a '4' under neath it. Any idea what the 4 means?

George

[smiling-knife]

Venture Slater Bros sound about right. Usually, the WWII knives were marked with the Broad Arrow and the year. Could the 4 be part of 1940 or 1941? The copper shackle dates your knife to 1941 at the latest when the copper shackle was replaced with a steel one. s-k

[George21]

Venture Slater Bros sound about right. Usually, the WWII knives were marked with the Broad Arrow and the year. Could the 4 be part of 1940 or 1941? The copper shackle dates your knife to 1941 at the latest when the copper shackle was replaced with a steel one. s-k

You beauty! Thanks a lot.
Can't see any other markings, faint or anything, next to the 4. The 4 is central to the arrow to... like -

|
4

Managed to snap a pic of it: http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/529/dscn1193.jpg

perhaps it means 40 but they were lazy and didnt put the '0' lol

[George21]

2 of my knives:

Knife 1: http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/7502/dscn1231z.jpg
Knife 1 blade stamp: http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/274/dscn1238w.jpg
Has the military broad arrow and SSP 1944.


Knife 2: http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5597/dscn1205u.jpg
Knife 2 tang stamp: http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/306/dscn1216d.jpg
"Venture Slater Bros Sheffield" or "Venture Slate Brass Sheffield" or something of the sort.
Knife 2 Marline Spike Stamp: http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/117/dscn1213eqx.jpg
Had an arrow and just a 4? any ideas?

Cheers,

George

Both Knives: http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/6571/dscn1243a.jpg
Both Knives 2: http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7109/dscn1242l.jpg

[Owd Wullie]

The Venture knife is early war issue. I seem to recall that they quit using the copper bow in or around '41. Looks like it met a can that was tougher than it was. Those were issued to the soldiers. Often wondered what kind of ropes the poor dog faces were up against to have a marlin spike on the knife. They probably messed with more ropes and stuff than did the sailors of that era though.

Neat old knives.

Here is my version given to me by my father in law.



It was made by WATTS in Sheffield, It's dated '41 but has a steel bow. The springs in those things are awesome. Nearly 70 years old and been though who knows what and they still snap like an alligator.

[George21]

Thanks for the information chap!

Still can't find a date stamp on that second knife though. The only number on it is there "4" on the marlin spike.

Also, is the first knife a military knife? It looks like it has the military broad arrow on the can opener but it's very faint. It also doesn't have a marlin spike. Who would this have been issued too without the marlin spike?

Cheers,

George

[Owd Wullie]

I stole this quote from our friend SMILING KNIFE. This was posted by him at THE BRITISH BLADES FORUMS http://www.britishblades.com l Nice bunch of gents over there too.
It may also apply to your knife in question. He was referring to the knife I posted above when I posted it over there looking for information on it.

Althought the basics were similar there were some changes from the early WWII knives to the Korean era knives. The copper shackle was replaced with steel around 1940ish... your's looks to be steel. By 1945 the can opener attachment also had a bottle opener as standard. The steel bolsters were phased out around the same time (1945) in favour of a full-length moulded scale with a big 'birds eye' rivet. Or so is my understanding.

He's a LOT more knowledgeable on this stuff than I.

[George21]

Aye indeed I'm a member over there too! Good forum that!

Sometimes I forget what I post here and what I post there. Post a lot of the same things most of the time!

I'm in the middle of making a website to catalogue my knives at the moment. So will be easier to provide links etc when I'm done with it!

[zorrothegreyblade]

Been way to long since I posted here.

Been researching this, a wooden handled pattern 6363/1905, as used by the British Army from 1905 through till 1939. The early ones had horn scales, later ones had bexoid, but never wood?





Turns out it was made in India for their own troops, so if ever you come across one, now you know.

[Owd Wullie]

Harumph!! Those silly Indians. All those water buffalo cruising around eating and messing up the sidewalks and they use WOOD for knife handles..

Good info to know now though.

Neat old knife too.

[smiling-knife]

Great knives guys . Thanks for sharing them.

Zorro do you have any date info on your Indian knife? It is the older 6353/1905 pattern but maybe they were made later in India than UK???

The springs on the WWII folders do generally maintain a strong snap over time. Unfortunately the Bexoid scales are highly prone to shrinkage. s-k

[smiling-knife]

George... regarding your second knife. I have this 1939 6353/1905 pattern with the broad arrow and number 3 on the spike. According to Flook these numbers are inspectors' marks along with the GI arrow. There must be a hidden tangstamp for the maker. Your other knife is Venture Slater Bros s-k

[George21]

George... regarding your second knife. I have this 1939 1095 pattern with the broad arrow and number 3 on the spike. According to Flook these numbers are inspectors' marks along with the GI arrow. There must be a hidden tangstamp for the maker. Your other knife is Venture Slater Bros s-k

Ah wonderful, cheers for the info mate.

What would they have been inspected for? Just to make sure they're in good order?