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Marine Raider Stilettos - Where were they worn?


stratasfan
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While cleaning through the knife sale threads . . . I ran across a picture of a Marine Raider Stiletto. Never seen one of these! Would these have been carried by the raiders who wore the 1MAC raider patches (blue with a red shield with a skull in the center)? I searched on this forum for a while and couldn't find a thread where someone had posted where these knives were worn. So, anyone know where they were worn and maybe someone has a photo showing a Marine Raider with his stiletto? I'm interested now! 

 

Thanks!

Elizabeth

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Doctorofwar

Yes the USMC Marine Raider Stiletto made by Camillus Cutlery was worn and carried by Marine Raiders in the Pacific.  It was also reportedly carried by some Para Marines and an all black version without the USMC etching on the blade was issued to the Canadian 1st Parachute Battalion in Europe.  The book “Allied Military Fighting Knives and the Men Who made them Famous” by Robert A. Buerlein has pictures of Raiders in training and deployed wearing this knife and a picture of a Canadian Paratrooper in Europe also with this knife.  

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Doctorofwar
Just now, Doctorofwar said:

Yes the USMC Marine Raider Stiletto made by Camillus Cutlery was worn and carried by Marine Raiders in the Pacific.  It was also reportedly carried by some Para Marines and an all black version without the USMC etching on the blade was issued to the Canadian 1st Parachute Battalion in Europe.  The book “Allied Military Fighting Knives and the Men Who made them Famous” by Robert A. Buerlein has pictures of Raiders in training and deployed wearing this knife and a picture of a Canadian Paratrooper in Europe also with this knife.  

Members of the Canadian Parachute Battalion were probably issued the knife while attending jump training in the US and later took them to Europe according to the above referenced book.  Didn’t mean to imply they received them in the ETO. 

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Doctorofwar

All the pictures I have personally seen of Raiders deployed with the USMC Stiletto have either been on Bougainville.  

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The stilettos were issued and seen in several training photos but were in reality a poor design and fairly fragile for a field knife. I have spoken to a few Marines who often related they traded for a more substantial knife (Kabar) that was more practical. I have a knife like the one below from a Marine Raider. These were sourced in New Caledonia and made by the locals there. The underside of the guard is typically engraved New Caledonia. There are phots pf Raiders carring or using various Westen issue knives as well.One I know f is the Western L77 or L76 Commando knife which was a Stiletto made by Western . One was double edge other single edge 

 

The Book Allied Military Fighting Knives has a chapter on them as well as  Military Knives  from Knife World Publications'

 

 

 

 

image.png.64c09b3441d5fd156e9e99f8da886108.png

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56 minutes ago, Doctorofwar said:

Members of the Canadian Parachute Battalion were probably issued the knife while attending jump training in the US and later took them to Europe according to the above referenced book.  Didn’t mean to imply they received them in the ETO. 

 

I have a Raider stiletto that came from a 17th Airborne vet here locally.He called it his "Commando Knife". When asked where he got it he said there were some Polish Paratroopers stationed near them in England.He was trading with them...I wonder if he didnt recall correctly or the Poles got some from the Canadians.

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Doctorofwar
5 minutes ago, doyler said:

 

I have a Raider stiletto that came from a 17th Airborne vet here locally.He called it his "Commando Knife". When asked where he got it he said there were some Polish Paratroopers stationed near them in England.He was trading with them...I wonder if he didnt recall correctly or the Poles got some from the Canadians.

Very interesting!  Is your stiletto all black without the USMC blade etching?

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This is the one I got from the local vet.Knew him most of my life. 

 

Seeing the 1st Canadian Paras jumped into Varsity with the Brit 6th Airborne possible he sourced it from one of them.He was wounded going in on Varsity and then ended up later assigned to the 325th Glider so not sure he would have much interaction with the  1st Canadian at Varsity

 

image.png.ec27a1be4f3efc7b21a390d69e3b61aa.png

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Doctorofwar

Wow Handle looks in great shape- looks like a beauty.  Awesome that you knew the vet that you got it from.  Thanks for sharing.  
 

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Thanks for all the great info! I wasn't on yesterday, as Sis and I had a birthday and I took off from the comp all day! :)

 

Very interesting about them trading for a "better" knife! :) I saw they had aluminum handles, and that would make you think about it being rather fragile. So, would these have been worn on the belt? 

 

Also interesting that they are mostly seen in use just in the one spot! Was it a more common thing for issue equipment to be poor like this, or is this kind of the odd man out? Did soldiers have to often replace their stuff because of issues like this?

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Doctorofwar

The sheath was designed to be worn on a belt, but as most gear, could have been attached anywhere the Marine thought it would be most convenient.  Soldiers/Sailors/Marines are always swapping/scrounging gear or striving to obtain gear they want/feel is better whenever they can get away with it.  Trading knives and other items isn’t uncommon in most any conflict.  The USMC Raider stiletto was really only good for one thing- fighting- and most military knives are used far more often for everything else one would use a knife for.  The stiletto design was poor and too delicate for use as a general utility knife.  Hence it’s replacement by knives better suited to a variety of tasks like the 1219c2/USMC combat knife.  Pictures of the stiletto in use are predominantly from early PTO battles because that was before they were replaced by more versatile knives.  
The handles of the stilettos were a die cast zinc-aluminum alloy that have become very brittle with age.  They would have been stronger when they were issued than they have been since due to corrosion attacking the material, it is common to find them now with cracked or broken handles or missing parts of the guards, making the one that doyler shows above a real prize.

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Elizabeth, found this picture of the knife you were questioning. It was titled Marine Raider. You can see it on his cartridge belt.

USMC Raider1.jpg

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1 hour ago, tthen said:

Elizabeth, found this picture of the knife you were questioning. It was titled Marine Raider. You can see it on his cartridge belt.

USMC Raider1.jpg

 

 

Thanks so much for finding that picture! Super cool! Boy . . . and my Dad complains when he runs out of shaving soap . . . ;)

 

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  • 1 year later...
On 6/27/2020 at 3:53 PM, doyler said:

This is the one I got from the local vet.Knew him most of my life. 

 

Seeing the 1st Canadian Paras jumped into Varsity with the Brit 6th Airborne possible he sourced it from one of them.He was wounded going in on Varsity and then ended up later assigned to the 325th Glider so not sure he would have much interaction with the  1st Canadian at Varsity

 

image.png.ec27a1be4f3efc7b21a390d69e3b61aa.png

Great knife! Can I get you to post more pictures showing higher resolution and multiple sides and angles?

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Here are some pics of one in my collection. It was traded to a Physiciasn in the Navy who was shipboard who basically tucked it in his sea bag and brought it home. It was sold on auction a couple years ago and came directly from his estate with a some provenance.  It definitely saw little use and just another of the dozens of stories out there supporting the notion these weren’t held in high esteem by the Marines they were issued to. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
EmperorWangDong

Nice one warguy, pretty rare to have the scabbard with the grommet intact. Most all are gone (corrosion) including mine and it looks like it has seen little to no use as well.

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