Marine Corps Parachutist Knife?

[thorin6]

The first time I saw this knife was in Cole’s Book IV, page 186. The page was actually about the sheath, a shortened M6 sheath by Barwood. The knife was noted as being found with the sheath, but Cole expressed skepticism that the knife went with the sheath. The next time I saw this knife was when I perused Bill Walter’s Book II, on pages 65-67, where he discussed the “BCD” knives and provided pictures of three versions that he had identified. Finally, a month or so ago, there were two of these knives on sale on Frank Trazska’s website. They have since either been sold or pulled. Those were the only ones I ever saw for sale until I saw this ebay under the title “Marine Corps Parachutist Knife.” The first part of the ebay description read:

 

“Ref: Cole IV, pg 186; Silvey 1941-1991, pg 312.

Hard to find knife. Nobody seems to know who made them. The only clue is the sheath, which appears to be a shortened Barwood M6 sheath, but w/o the marking. This example is 10 1/8" with a 5 1/8" blade.” The rest of the ebay description talked about the condition.

 

Bill Walter’s Book II added information about the knife, stating it had an Oak one-piece handle and a brass pommel, and that the knives were engraved on the blade with a “BCD” but again, no one knows who made them. He further states that “A fellow collector has a BCD fighting knife that was used by John Fisher, a 101st Airborne 502 Parachute Infantry Division paratrooper.” The three variants were one with a longer (and wider) blade, 6-1/4 inch blade as opposed to the 5-3/8 inch blade on the two shorter variants and as described in Cole’s Book IV. The two shorter variants have a bright blade and a darkened blade.

 

This knife and sheath generally follow the books, in that the sheath meets the description of a shortened M6 and the knife’s dimensions are somewhat consistent, although the length is 5-1/8 inches. The handle is somewhat different, in that it is a single piece but has a slot the length of the tang that has been filled in. It is attached with two brass rivets, and the tang has been peened to the brass pommel and then smoothed out. The blade appears to have been darkened and although the etching is faint, there is a “BCD” in cursive with a flourish at the end that looks like a small letter ao inside a circle. There are some marks stamped on the blade-side of the steel guard but seem random, and there is the number 444 stamped on both sides of the handle. The sheath exhibits a fair amount of use and most likely something was rubbed into the leather that resulted in it being darkened. However, it is all there and the retaining strap is solid and snap works.

The knife and the sheath appear to have been together for a long time. Fit and finish on the knife is rough but the knife is put together well and is tight. As per Cole’s book, the cross-section of the blade is a trapezoid and is a clip-point.

Feel free to comment and if you can provide more information please do.

 

 

[thorin6]

Front and back

 

[thorin6]

Grip markings

 

[thorin6]

Blade and guard markings

 

[thorin6]

Close up of pommel and filled in slot in grip

 

[SGT CHIP SAUNDERS]

NO . EXPERT . AFAIK the USMC paras were very short lived, and later in the war were distributed to other units. Any one over at the Raiders assn, ever seen one?

[thorin6]

Note that this knife is not the Western Parachutist's knife that is so rare. I am restating the seller's title with a ? as I don't know what to call it, while Cole didn't either, and probably the best label is the "BCD Knife" that Bill Walters used.

[siclfde]

Note that this knife is not the Western Parachutist's knife that is so rare. I am restating the seller's title with a ? as I don't know what to call it, while Cole didn't either, and probably the best label is the "BCD Knife" that Bill Walters used.

 

The reason I titled it the "Marine Corps Parachutist knife" in the eBay posting is because that is the exact name Silvey gave it in the reference called out in the posting. As stated above, Cole did not name it, and I certainly don't claim to have the credentials to name or rename it, so I used Silvey's title.

 

I don't think at any time I insinuated that it was the "Western Parachutist" that has the USMC stamped on the ricasso.

 

[thorin6]

 

The reason I titled it the "Marine Corps Parachutist knife" in the eBay posting is because that is the exact name Silvey gave it in the reference called out in the posting. As stated above, Cole did not name it, and I certainly don't claim to have the credentials to name or rename it, so I used Silvey's title.

 

I don't think at any time I insinuated that it was the "Western Parachutist" that has the USMC stamped on the ricasso.

 

I don't have the Silvey book, so am unaware of what he said. The reason I added the note is to make sure that readers of the thread don't veer off on a tangent to discuss the Western knife; at no time did I think it was the Western and I completely understood what was meant when I bought it. The description was spot on and the photos were very good.

I sounds like you are the original seller, and if so, do you have any history of the knife?

[siclfde]

I don't have the Silvey book, so am unaware of what he said. The reason I added the note is to make sure that readers of the thread don't veer off on a tangent to discuss the Western knife; at no time did I think it was the Western and I completely understood what was meant when I bought it. The description was spot on and the photos were very good.

I sounds like you are the original seller, and if so, do you have any history of the knife?

 

Nothing more than what I had described. I am pretty sure it was one of the two that Frank had up a while ago. I think here was a thread in this forum on these a couple years ago.