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Camillus Pocket Knife- Military Issue?


Yankee John
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I picked up this small lot from an antique store yesterday. A nice WWII CIB, a Sea Bee DUI, and this Camillus folding knife. Any chance that this pocket knife could have been a military issue item? I know that lots of civilian items were pressed into military service during the war.

 

I did a Google Search and found a few pics of an identical knife listed as a USN-Medic knife.

 

Thanks in advance for any info that you can provide!

John

post-262-1168617542.jpg

post-262-1168617551.jpg

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Charlie Flick
Any chance that this pocket knife could have been a military issue item? John

 

Hi John:

 

Yes, that four blade utility knife was made by Camillus during WW2. The factory called it their "Army Engineers and Marine Corps Utility Knife." The shield on the side probably says USA, and you might want to examine it carefully. Almost identical Camillus knives were made for the USAAF, the Navy and Marine Corps. If your knife has the USA shield it is the most common variety.

 

Hope this information helps you.

 

Charlie Flick

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Hi John:

 

Yes, that four blade utility knife was made by Camillus during WW2. The factory called it their "Army Engineers and Marine Corps Utility Knife." The shield on the side probably says USA, and you might want to examine it carefully. Almost identical Camillus knives were made for the USAAF, the Navy and Marine Corps. If your knife has the USA shield it is the most common variety.

 

Hope this information helps you.

 

Charlie Flick

Charlie, the AAF procured pocket knives were 3 bladed without bail also the engineer knife pictured by yankee john was procured by the USN under specification M-565 the only difference is the shield is left blank.Early examples were bone handled later changed to black plactic in 1944 for the M-565 pocket knife due to bone material shortages, a reluctant change for the navy as they require materials that are not flammable.The original spec. M-565 detailed a different type pocket knife but camillus sold the navy on the current design of the US army engineer pattern which the only change is what I mentioned above.I have a copy of the spec. m-565 and several letters from camillus to the navy department detailing this pocket knife.

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Thanks for the replies guys!

 

Yes, Even though the shield is somewhat rust pitted, I can see "USA" engraved on it.

 

John

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Charlie Flick
The AAF procured pocket knives were 3 bladed without bail.... also the engineer knife pictured by yankee john was procured by the USN under specification M-565, the only difference is the shield is left blank.

 

Hey Dustin:

 

I pulled out some of my 4 blade utility knives tonight. I selected only those made by Camillus and with shields and bails. See the pic.

 

From the top, we have the classic Army Engineers knife like Yankee John's; the second has a blank shield which from your post I gather is an unmarked USN knife; the third is Marine Corps marked; the fourth is Army Air Force; and the bottom one is a Navy Medical Department knife.

 

The USAAF did indeed buy 3 bladed knives. It also purchased, in apparently small amounts, the 4-bladed variety shown above with the AAF marked shield. It has black composite scales which have shrunken somewhat over the years. In the pic I extended the punch blade to demonstrate that it has four blades.

 

On your 3-blade AAF knife, I have seen the 3-blade equal end military knives before but not with the shield in the style yours has. Can you tell me how you identified it as USAAF issue?

 

Charlie Flick

 

 

CamillusUS4bladeUtilitykniveswithSh.jpg

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Hey Dustin:

 

I pulled out some of my 4 blade utility knives tonight. I selected only those made by Camillus and with shields and bails. See the pic.

 

From the top, we have the classic Army Engineers knife like Yankee John's; the second has a blank shield which from your post I gather is an unmarked USN knife; the third is Marine Corps marked; the fourth is Army Air Force; and the bottom one is a Navy Medical Department knife.

 

The USAAF did indeed buy 3 bladed knives. It also purchased, in apparently small amounts, the 4-bladed variety shown above with the AAF marked shield. It has black composite scales which have shrunken somewhat over the years. In the pic I extended the punch blade to demonstrate that it has four blades.

 

On your 3-blade AAF knife, I have seen the 3-blade equal end military knives before but not with the shield in the style yours has. Can you tell me how you identified it as USAAF issue?

 

Charlie Flick

CamillusUS4bladeUtilitykniveswithSh.jpg

Charlie, I have never seen that AAF marked knife before very cool!

Do you have Micheal Silvey's book POCKET KNIVES of the UNITED STATES MILITARY? Look at pages 62 and 63 this is what I referenced though it still may not be correct as the Utica knife shown it has "USA" on shield, I mainly used it as a reference to the three bladed as it is almost identical to the actual procured AAF type from camillus.I am still in the hunt for the three bladed knives as these are the correct ones for the B-1,B-2 and B-4 kits.

I will send you a copy from camillus to the USN talking about the engineer knife and the blank shield.

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