Gilles Posted December 20, 2014 Share #1 Posted December 20, 2014 Hello, My next knife M3 Best regards from France Gilles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byf41 Posted December 21, 2014 Share #2 Posted December 21, 2014 Beautiful example . Congratulations . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SG_1st_Cav Posted December 21, 2014 Share #3 Posted December 21, 2014 Nice example! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayonetman Posted December 21, 2014 Share #4 Posted December 21, 2014 IF the number on the back of the scabbard is the man's Serial Number, it was Lawrence O. Leva of Salt Lake, Utah born 1922. Keep in mind that the scabbard may not be original to the knife, and the number may be a fake. Without further documentation, this can only be listed as POSSIBLE, not certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundance Posted December 21, 2014 Share #5 Posted December 21, 2014 A real beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry K. Posted December 21, 2014 Share #6 Posted December 21, 2014 could not get much better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reeder3 Posted December 21, 2014 Share #7 Posted December 21, 2014 Looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony V Posted December 21, 2014 Share #8 Posted December 21, 2014 Gilles Congratulations ! Looks like a very nice example. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share #9 Posted December 22, 2014 IF the number on the back of the scabbard is the man's Serial Number, it was Lawrence O. Leva of Salt Lake, Utah born 1922. Keep in mind that the scabbard may not be original to the knife, and the number may be a fake. Without further documentation, this can only be listed as POSSIBLE, not certain. Hello, I can read LEVA on the pommel Gilles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share #10 Posted December 24, 2014 Hello, Thank you for your comments. Merry christmas Gilles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solcarlus Posted December 24, 2014 Share #11 Posted December 24, 2014 Hi. Belle lame Cordialement sol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1563621 Posted December 25, 2014 Share #12 Posted December 25, 2014 Astounding, Very nice cond.! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share #13 Posted December 30, 2014 Hi, Scabbard I can read LEVA Gilles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilian Posted December 30, 2014 Share #14 Posted December 30, 2014 You can find him using Google. He was in the Air Corps and passed away in 1999. According to this site he was a B24 bomber mechanic in the UK. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/684945/Obituary-Lawrence-O-Leva-Laurie.html?pg=all Where did you find his knife? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share #15 Posted December 31, 2014 Kilian thanks to this site. This knife come from the United States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilian Posted December 31, 2014 Share #16 Posted December 31, 2014 You are welcome Gilles. You can also find that he joined the army in 1942. It is nice that you can connect the knife to an actual person. I never realized that army airforce mechanics were issued M3 knives, but it does explain its condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilles Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share #17 Posted December 31, 2014 Kilian http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/194083-m3-knife-use-by-the-aaf/ Happy New Year Gilles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain-03 Posted December 31, 2014 Share #18 Posted December 31, 2014 Very Very Nice!! Need to find me one of these!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilian Posted January 1, 2015 Share #19 Posted January 1, 2015 Kilian http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/194083-m3-knife-use-by-the-aaf/ Happy New Year Gilles Yes, I was aware that airforce personnel were issued M3 knives. I assume it must have been typical army bureaucracy to issue an M3 knife to a mechanic in England. The knife appears to me as ideally suited to kill Germans or Japanese in close combat, or in a bar fight, but as a utility knife to open boxes I would prefer a different model. I am not questioning the authenticity of the markings though. The knife has probably spent the war in a locker. Bonne annee et bonne sante! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted January 1, 2015 Share #20 Posted January 1, 2015 He may or may not have been issued the knife. He could have traded for it, won it in a card game, found it left behind in an aircraft, many different ways of acquisition. On the other hand, mechanics would have been needed in France after the invasion, and issue would make sense as a survival, or combat knife. Lots of possibilities. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccyooper Posted January 1, 2015 Share #21 Posted January 1, 2015 Most of the best m3 knives have AAC provenance. They either stuck them in their trunk or mailed them home. Very little abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted January 1, 2015 Share #22 Posted January 1, 2015 TOTALLY AGREE WITH SKIP AND YOOPER.The M3 as a utility knife was widely issued or acquired. I recall an actual photo posted on the forum of a M3 being worn by a AAC person in the Pacific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilian Posted January 1, 2015 Share #23 Posted January 1, 2015 The way the man has ensured that his name and number are on it, could indeed be an indication that he saw it more as a personal item/possession than as government property. I have seen helmets, both US and German, with the wearers name in it - I would guess for practical reasons, to be able to find it back in a bunch of identical items - , but I do not recall ever seeing a bayonet with a name on it. I have seen lots of knives with names scratched in the, ofthen leather, scabbard, but this is the first personalized M3 that I see. Are these commonly found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted January 1, 2015 Share #24 Posted January 1, 2015 Two weeks ago I saw an M3 at an estate auction. It had the proper early M8 scabbard but the leather handle was rotted to the point of crumbling into dust. I could not bring myself to bid on it. Seems like most M3's I locate were used hard, and beyond hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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