A Collins No. 18 "V-44" Blade in the UK

[Charlie Flick]

Gentlemen:

 

I ran across this image and thought it would be of interest to members here. It is, of course, a Collins No. 18, sometimes erroneously called the V-44. Except for the bent guard, it appears to be in pretty good condition.

 

This example now resides in the collection of the Royal Armouries in the UK. The rather fanciful description of it given by the museum is:

 

Given by Mr G. Lofting, 18 June 1991. The donor acquired it from a member of the U.S. Airborne Division, about 1941. The donor said it was a common practice for members of the U.S. Airborne Division to carry such knives on their belts with a pistol holster in front of the sheath.....From the markings, the decoration of the sheath, and the general finish, this seemed, at the time of acquisition, unlikely to have been an official military issue weapon. However, a similar example, by the same maker, but without the tooling on the sheath and with a buckle on the end of the belt-loop, was included in Kent Sales, Sale No.168, 2nd November 1990, Lot 208 (ill. in cat.) where it was identified as a U.S. V44 Survival Knife, citing M.H. Cole, 'U.S. Military Knives', p.136. See also F.J. Stephens, 'Fighting Knives...', London etc., 1980, pp. 66-7, nos 318-22.

 

 

Regards,

Charlie

[thorin6]

I don't know what "the US Airborne Division" is, but I don't think we had any Airborne Divisions in 1941. Also, decoration of the sheath is correct for the Collins No. 18, and although it isn't a V44 (a term applied by collectors today, despite the derivation), I believe it was one of the knives issued with the emergency or bailout kits (others being the Case and Western; I don't think the Kinfolks was actually government issued). Still a nice knife. Surprised it wasn't listed as one of the Collins No. 18s carried by the Marine Raiders.