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WWII hunting knife with Department of Alaskan bear stamped on the sheath


cplnorton
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I'm looking at a grouping of a WWII soldier that was stationed in Alaska during WWII. One thing in there that has me puzzled is a hunting knife that has a sheath that has the Department of Alaska Bear stamped into the leather. I didn't get a good look at the knife or the maker, but it looks like a regular hunting knife, sort of like a USN mark 1 knife or pal 35.

This is the symbol stamped into the sheath and it looks factory done. Is this knife rare? I cannot find anything on it on google?

(Unfortunately the link no longer works, the photo was deleted or moved. - Moderator))

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I actually bought it today. It came from a grouping of a guy who was stationed in Alaska.

It's a Cattaraugus 225 Q.

Anyone see one like this? It doesn't look theater done. It looks more factory.

post-66-0-73191700-1421114064.jpg

 

post-66-0-80746600-1421114087.jpg

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Greetings your pictured knife is a Cattaraugus 225Q (Yes, just like is says on the blade). Place “Cattaraugus 225Q” in the search box up in the right corner of the Edged Weapon's Forum Page and you will see several threads with plenty of information about your knife.

 

My assumption on the embossed/stamped Alaskan Department’s Insignia is it was done by someone (In the unit) with the time and the wherewithal to add the unit’s insignia to the scabbard. They had plenty of need for ordinance and other logistics focused units during the building of the Al-Can Highway. Any number of those units assigned to the Alaskan Department could have supported the efforts needed to machine a stamping die with the Department’s insignia on it.Of course it may have been done at the factory, but I doubt it.

 

The real question is how many were made or if it is just a one-off piece? Either case it’s an interesting knife, because the scabbard tells a story. Thank you, for sharing it with us all.

 

Regards,

 

Lance

 

P.S. I would not call the knife rare, but the scabbard makes it more desirable than one in similar condition without the insignia. There are several on eBay right now that can provide you all the value ranges for ones in better and lesser condition.

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Found this

 

From: Kevin Jones lickinfrogz (at) msn.com

Subject: alaskan defense command

Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 15:58:46 -0400

 

recently my grandmother gave me an insignia patch from the a.d.c. it is a

kodiak bear on a blue background with a gold star above the head.she told me

it was designed by my grand father who was stationed in alaska. his name is

Angelo Johnny Franco. i was hoping to find out more about his unit and

him. he passed nearly 20 yrs ago and any information you vould provide in

helping me find out more about him and his service to the country would be

greatly appreciated.

most thankful,

kevin jones

 

http://www.kadiak.org/guest.html

 

Maybe a lead

 

Cheers

 

Glen C.

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Here is three patches that were in his footlocker. I also have his uniform and the bear patch is on the right sleeve. And he has a CBI patch on his left. From his footlocker, I have pics of him in Alaska, and then sometime late in the war he was transferred to coastal artillery in the CBI theater. I'm going to try to get pics of everything today and post it in the grouping. But I just thought that knife was really neat.

 

patches001.jpg

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Here are the Coastal Arty Units attached to the CBI Theater http://www.cbi-histo...part_xi.html#25 they were all mobile 155mm units. The Alaska Defense Command (ADC with Seal) is pre March 1943, after that the name was changed to the Alaskan Department and the Bear Patch was used. Hopefully you find some paperwork that lets you know what his unit was in the CBI.

 

Regards,

 

Lance

 

P.S. The linked page loads funny at times. Scroll to the bottom of the page and just above the OSS units, you will find the Coastal Artillery Units.

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  • 2 years later...

I know this thread is a few yrs old but I just wanted to comment that I just pur.chased a Cattaraugus knife in an ADC etched sheath. Mine definitely looks more handmade than this one. It's pretty crude...better than I could do, but still crude.

I couldn't get my pics to work here so I posted a few to my website if anybody wants to see...

http://ryanpatrick.zenfolio.com/p1012440301#h314bbdb6

 

 

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