M1942 machete found at surplus store

[NapeSticksToKids]

i dont know much of anything about WWII militaria, let alone machetes. found this at my local surplus store in a box under some clothes. wasnt marked with a price, and the owner said he wasnt sure if it was real or not. i figured hey why not, and thought it looked pretty legit. cost me $25.

 

 

[DeuceGI]

That looks to be the real deal. Awesome find for 25 clams. Thanks for sharing,

Tim

[Gumshoe]

I give it a thumbs up as well. Cheers!

 

Mark

[4IDUB]

Very nice item and an even better price.

 

Rich

[NapeSticksToKids]

Is there any way to tell if this was a USMC or Army machete? I know the scabbards for USMC would say it but I don't know if the scabbard is the original.

[Woody]

Nice example, 1943 True Temper, which has been double stamped. Not an expert on these but show my own 1942 example for comparison. Note that handle is wood rather than bakolite/plastic. I have had this for 27 years.

[Ronnie]

Holy cow that is why I keep stopping at Surplus Stores....you never know what you may find. Congratulations on a great deal!

Ronnie

[gunbarrel]

Is there any way to tell if this was a USMC or Army machete? I know the scabbards for USMC would say it but I don't know if the scabbard is the original.

---------------------------

 

I do not know anything about True Temper machetes, but I do know that Collins M1942 machetes went to both (Army & Marine Corps) No way to tell with certainty here without provenance, though. Even if it had a USMC scabbard, you don't know if the machete and the scabbard were put together by a collector after the war, or what have you. Although your scabbard has some age to it, I'm not sure if it is a WW II scabbard. Seems to me like all the WWII scabards were dated? Also, were marked with the manufacturer's name?

 

Regardless, great find--killer price. Enjoy it!

[gunbarrel]

This is what I was talking about:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-1944-Dated-WW2-U-S-MACHETE-FIGHTING-KNIFE-in-1942-G-I-Issue-SCABBARD-/291011053057

[NapeSticksToKids]

it seems like there is more markings below where the US stamp is, but are way way too faded to try and read. youre right though, who knows if this was the original scabbard.

[robinb]

Try looking behind the tab that holds the wire hooks. I'll bet it's dated 1944 back there. Oh, and your scabbard is British Made.

[NapeSticksToKids]

Ha! Hiding in plain sight!!!! It says RMB Ltd, 1944. Care to share with the rest of the class? Did this company only make the scabbards for that year? Were they issued to both Marines and Army or just Army? Do you think this is the original scabbard to this machete? What was the giveaway that this was a British '44?

[NapeSticksToKids]

And thanks!! Who knows how long it would have been before I saw that haha.

[robinb]

The "give-away" is that I have the exact same scabbard in my collection. I don't know anything else about that company. I imagine they were for use in the ETO. I wouldn't think that any British Made stuff ever got to the PTO.

[NapeSticksToKids]

Well thanks again, I googled the company name and couldn't find any WWII related links. And that's a good point about British gear and the PTO, especially that late in the war. I just didn't realize they were issuing machetes in the ETO but I'm pretty newbie about gear details.

[Charlie Flick]

Hello Nape:

 

Could you show a pic of the RMB Ltd. marking on your scabbard, please?

 

I don't know the company ID either, but it may turn out that it was Australian rather than British. It is well established that Aussie companies provided machetes, scabbards and other items to US Forces in WW2. If it turns out to be Australian made then it would almost certainly have been a PTO item rather than ETO.

 

Regards,

Charlie

[gunbarrel]

Charlie,

 

Great idea! I knew that R.M.B. Ltd. made scabbards for Australian bayonets, but it never occcured to me that it could be an Australian company; I just assumed (and you know what happens when I do that ), that it was a British company. We'll get Dutchy over here, and he may be able to help us out. Here is one of the blades in my bucket liest, an Australian paratrooper machete bayonet.

 

[gunbarrel]

[NapeSticksToKids]

[Dutchy357]

Hi Guys

I'm not going to be a lot of help here!

So far I have learnt more from this thread than I think I can add to it.

Sadly, this is an area of collecting that has been overlooked. I have only recently started to compile a record of the various makers marks found on the Australian sheaths and scabbards.

With the example GunBarrel has shown of the Aus Machete/Bayonet in an RMB Ltd marked scabbard there can be no doubt that RMB Ltd were an Australian manufacturer. The number of these machete/bayonets manufactured was far too small for scabbards to have been sourced elsewhere.

US forces had M1942 machetes made in Australia during the war. I have been unable to find one paired with an Australian scabbard. The specimens I have managed to collect either had no scabbard or were paired with a US scabbard.

So far I have been unable to identify who RMB Ltd was. However, I will keep looking. When I find out who they were, I will report back here.

I will also be looking for some RMB Ltd scabbards for my Australian manufactured M1942 machetes.

Regards Dutchy

[gunbarrel]

With the example GunBarrel has shown of the Aus Machete/Bayonet in an RMB Ltd marked scabbard there can be no doubt that RMB Ltd were an Australian manufacturer. The number of these machete/bayonets manufactured was far too small for scabbards to have been sourced elsewhere.

Thanks, Dutchy!

 

Yup, no doubt it's Australian. Here is an Aussie machete with a scabbard also made by RMB Ltd. 1944

 

http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/REL35358/