WWII Airborne Switchblades

[DaBomb]

[DaBomb]

Can you say addiction?

 

I have a few more somewhere. 

[B-Man22]

Nice collection …. Greatly appreciate you showing them 😀

[Allan H.]

I want to assure B-Man22 that no offense was taken by any of his posts in this thread, and I heartily agree with him that differences of opinion are actually good for the historians and collectors in our community. What I have attempted to do in this thread is to share my knowledge and nearly fifty years of experience talking to World War II paratrooper veterans and my desire, first to acquire a "real" switchblade, and second to be able to document the items that they carried, the uniforms and insignia that they wore, and the equipment that they used. In those years I talked to HUNDREDS of WWII airborne veterans. For years, I had a book on D-Day that I had veterans sign for me. I know there are over 300 signatures in that book. My reason for sharing this to make it very clear that what I have shared has not simply been anecdotal, but rather a concentrated effort to document what I have encountered. Additionally, I keep mentioning Mark Bando, as he has also talked to a ton of WWII paratroopers. His experiences and mine mirror each other.

 

The recently added photos of the "new in wrapper (NIW)" knives are great eye candy, but again, finding the provenance that they were issued during thee war as opposed to picked up at a gun and knife show or elsewhere becomes problematic. Just like fake Nazi badges being advertised as "straight from the vet" doesn't help to make them real, finding the MIW knives doesn't help us to determine where or when they might have found their way to paratroopers through the supply system. Additionally, hawkbill knives, the longer version switchblades, plastic handles, "brain" handles, metal handles, etc. give collectors a lot of variety to spend their money on, but that doesn't reflect on what we know for certain to have been carried during the war.

 

Allan 

 

 

[manayunkman]

Where did Frank  Traska get his information?

 

Anything documented to prove plastic was issued in WW2?

 

So far there is no proof that they were issued in WW2 but we have plenty of proof the bone was issued to combat paratroopers.

 

 

[DaBomb]

I purchased this knife directly from the family of Lt Norman Vance. He informed his children that he won the knife in a card game from a paratrooper in North Africa. He was in the 310th BS. How the paratrooper came to have it in his possession, who knows?

[Allan H.]

Great knife! It is interesting that it is the longer version and, like all of these metal handled versions, has the peened pin at the bolster. We know that these knives won't fit in the knife pocket on the coat, parachute jumper, so I wonder how and when it was acquired? The consensus up to now has been that these were post war manufactured and sold commercially.

 

Thanks for sharing it!

Allan

[freestyle]

Anyone acquire a hawksbill variation directly from a vet? These photos are much appreciated!

[DaBomb]

I don’t see how this blade stamp is post war? And I’ve never seen a metal handle that the pins weren’t rounded over (so called peened.) In fact all 3 pins are rounded to hold everything together. If they were not originally rounded over the knife would have fallen apart at assembly. Everything behind the handle is hollow. Now all the other knives are more solid at the bolsters. 

[manayunkman]

Did they make one with carved wood handles?

 

 

[manayunkman]

After having an opportunity to talk to Jake Powers he told me that the first elements of the 506PIR were the headquarters medics.

 

He met 2 of them who were issued Prestos with wood handles that were physically shown to him.

 

He was quite frank when black handed Prestos were issued, “they were issued to paratroopers after the war”.

 

It is his experience that WW2 506th vets were only issued deer antler handles less the HQ medics who had wood handles.

On 10/6/2021 at 3:53 PM, Allan H. said:

Great knife! It is interesting that it is the longer version and, like all of these metal handled versions, has the peened pin at the bolster. We know that these knives won't fit in the knife pocket on the coat, parachute jumper, so I wonder how and when it was acquired? The consensus up to now has been that these were post war manufactured and sold commercially.

 

Thanks for sharing it!

Allan

 

 

 

 

[Allan H.]

On 1/11/2023 at 12:58 PM, manayunkman said:

After having an opportunity to talk to Jake Powers he told me that the first elements of the 506PIR were the headquarters medics.

 

He met 2 of them who were issued Prestos with wood handles that were physically shown to him.

 

He was quite frank when black handed Prestos were issued, “they were issued to paratroopers after the war”.

 

It is his experience that WW2 506th vets were only issued deer antler handles less the HQ medics who had wood handles.

 

 

 

 

This has me scratching my head as I don't believe that I have ever seen a wood handled Presto or Schrade switchblade. I'm also scratching my head as to what Jake could be meaning by saying that the first elements of the 506th PIR were the HQ medics. The 506th would have been fielded with a command element first, and then subordinate units would have been added and "fleshed out" with personnel. 

 

I knew a lot of Toccoa vets, and none of them, of the ones who still had their airborne switchblades, had a wood handled switchblade.

 

My two cents.

 

Allan

[nifman]

"Did they make one with carved wood handles?"

 

I have had quite a few, over the thirty years I have been been buying and selling switchblades but never a wooden handled one. If you go up this page there is a good picture of typical jigging. but I have seen Schrade both switchblades and manual knives that had a real blocky  pattern  that kind of did look like wood.

Dennis aka nifman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[manayunkman]

It’s an interesting observation nevertheless but he was adamant that he never found a vet with a black handled presto unless they had stayed in Airborne and were issued one after the war. 
 

[Allan H.]

On 1/14/2023 at 10:40 AM, manayunkman said:

It’s an interesting observation nevertheless but he was adamant that he never found a vet with a black handled presto unless they had stayed in Airborne and were issued one after the war. 
 

That's two totally different thing- wood handles and black handles. I've still never encountered anything but the bone handled Schrade or Presto switchblade in the hands of a vet or their family.

 

Allan

[manayunkman]

1 hour ago, Allan H. said:

That's two totally different thing- wood handles and black handles. I've still never encountered anything but the bone handled Schrade or Presto switchblade in the hands of a vet or their family.

 

 

I’m not saying your wrong, I’m just relating what Powers told me.

[foggy151]

On 10/6/2021 at 12:26 AM, B-Man22 said:

Gentlemen; 

First off let me say that if anyone feels offended by my last post or the fact that I may have had a difference of opinion regarding the lineage and history of the M2 Knife,  as presented in previous posts here, let me offer my sincere apologies . My post was solely meant to share some of the information that I’ve learned over the last 50 years of collecting these and other WWII artifacts . As someone who has also conducted some  research into the background of these knives and their history,  I can easily understand that differences of opinions exist between collectors,  much in the same way as historians disagree on a particular event in history . I’ve always believed that conflicting opinions are not necessarily a bad thing,  as the dispute is often the motivation to share information,  in a collaborative effort to determine the real  truth on the issue at hand . So with this in mind,  I would like to share some of my research that I’ve learned over the years. On a number of occasions during conversations with vets it was clear that there was a real distinction between some of the items the early airborne vets of the test platoons of 1940 were issued, compared to that of the later units comprised in the 1942 and later periods leading up to the Sicily and D-Day jumps . As stated previously the bone handled knives were originally purchased commercially without bails as test knives , after which a back end analysis was conducted and bails were added with the afterthought of adding a lanyard to secure the knife to the body of the paratrooper in order to prevent loss . Many of the early vets who I met had bone handled knives . Several of them without bails and some with. There is no disagreement on that point . 
However , vets who I talked to who entered the airborne post D-Day and near the end of the war after Operation Market Garden described having plastic handled M2 knives described as “pieces of shinola “ plastic switchblades that were cheaply made. Now …. With regard to the information that M2 knives were made solely by Schrade Cut Company, Schrade B’port and Presto . That is correct . No disagreement . However the Worm Groved plastic handled knives were also made by Presto . As evidence that these were in fact issued US Military M2 Knives I can tell you with absolute certainty that about 15 years ago I acquired two of them in their original pink wrappers with lanyards . In my collection I still have one of those original NOS worm grove handled plastic “Pieces of shinola” in its original pink wrapper with the accompanying lanyard . I acquired that knife from a vet who  had it stored in his military trunk for about 60 years . Did the guy BS me ? I don’t know why he would . There was no disagreement over weather or not it was an issued knife . If it was solely a commercially sold item , why then the accompanying lanyard and did the well known military pink wrapper that most M2s came in just happen to be included in a commercially sold knife ?? Lastly as mentioned above the worm grove knife is a Presto manufactured knife . The same exact maker of the military M2 knives . I’ve attached a photo below for confirmation . So here’s the bottom line. Let’s all agree to freely provide all of this anecdotal info to each other,  in an effort to find the answers to these questions . If we disagree at certain points along the way, let’s support each other’s viewpoints in an effort to find out the answers . That’s pretty much all I have . Looking forward to all of your responses . 
Regards 

 

[foggy151]

I have this know nothing about it 

the handle is Bakelite??  Not exactly plastic  

[sactroop]

Probably nitrocellulose, a early type of plastic.

[US Army 86]

I recently acquired this airborne paratrooper knife. He served late WWII and received a hardship honorable discharge during the Korean War. A few things I’ve noticed - it’s manufactured by Schrade Walden NY, it doesn’t state “Presto” either, it doesn’t have a green or tan/khaki cord but has the bale.

It measures approximately 7 3/4 “ long with the blade being approximately 3” long, sliding lock tab works, when “unlocked” button to release the blade works and to close it too. The handles feels like plastic, definitely not bone/stag like the earlier ones. 
Reading through from the beginning of this thread I thought I saw one or two posts/comments to this style - made by Schrade Walden NY instead of instead of another state? Could be from late Korean War period, even from Vietnam War period? 
Any information would be appreciated.