stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Share #1 Posted August 3, 2020 Any thoughts on the knife this officer is wearing on his belt? He was a Bombardier, and died very early in 1943, so this has to be the first years of the 1940s. Here is a close view: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt14k Posted August 3, 2020 Share #2 Posted August 3, 2020 Western Shark looks like to me with a fold over sheath.Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share #3 Posted August 3, 2020 Wow! You are fast! Is that a military knife? It looks kind of thin. Is it just a utility knife? Would it have been issued? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spathologist Posted August 3, 2020 Share #4 Posted August 3, 2020 Are those issue boots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted August 3, 2020 Don't know about the boots, either, but wondered the same thing! He trained and then was stationed in the Aleutians with the 36th Bomb Squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share #6 Posted August 3, 2020 How long would the knife like he is wearing be? Also . . . what would that scabbard be like if you could see it better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted August 3, 2020 Share #7 Posted August 3, 2020 Elizabeth- Knife is about a 5" blade in what looks like a fold over leather sheath. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedon Posted August 3, 2020 Share #8 Posted August 3, 2020 The Western G46-6" Shark fighting knife was both USMC and USN issue. Here is one in the Shark "foldover" sheath. This is what looks like the knife in the picture to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt14k Posted August 3, 2020 Share #9 Posted August 3, 2020 How long would the knife like he is wearing be? Also . . . what would that scabbard be like if you could see it better? Full Size shark is 6" blade 10 1/4" overall 10 3/4" in the sheath. Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt14k Posted August 3, 2020 Share #10 Posted August 3, 2020 Elizabeth- Knife is about a 5" blade in what looks like a fold over leather sheath. SKIPBaby Shark would be 5" blade and 9 7/8" if put into Case 5" Foldover Sheath. It does fit in the sheath case is in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted August 3, 2020 Share #11 Posted August 3, 2020 The pommel on the knife looks like the kind used by Western. The Western Baby Shark would be one of several manufacture's knives associated with WW2 pilots. These are 5" fullered blades of the pattern made famous as the Marbles Ideal hunting knife in the early 20th century. When the patents ran out on the Ideal just about all of the other knife makers came out with their own version of the knife. This style knife was specified by the Government for inclusion in some aircraft survival kits. It might be a different style Western knife. Before the war and after Western made a large variety of knives and this might be one of those. The fold over sheath seems unusual for the knives delivered in the survival kit. Here are samples of some of the knives used in these kits. The top one is a Western Baby Shark. This is a later version with a plastic pommel instead of the aluminum version. The middle two knives are made by Camillus with two different types of blade markings. The bottom knife is the one my father-in-law carried in the ETO as a glider pilot, it was made by Case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aznation Posted August 3, 2020 Share #12 Posted August 3, 2020 The knife in Elizabeth's photograph appears to have only a half cross guard on it. I'm not seeing a full cross guard that extends out both sides of the knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted August 3, 2020 Share #13 Posted August 3, 2020 Could also be a commercial Western pre war hunting knife or similar pattern. Im seeing just three rivets on the scabbard in the B&W photo and not seeing a large double guard as the Shark had.Plus its overall size looks off on the belt for the Shark When comparing the knife and 45 magazine pouch in the photo the knife smaller than a Shark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share #14 Posted August 3, 2020 Got Sis to turn it B&W and adjust it in Photoshop . . .so here is a close view with adjusted lighting levels. It does look like 3 rivets on the sheath. I would never have thought to notice that! What is the cross guard? Is that the part between handle and blade that protects you hand? Edit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratasfan Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share #15 Posted August 3, 2020 Also, does it look like there is a white line in the center of the grip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted August 3, 2020 Share #16 Posted August 3, 2020 58 minutes ago, stratasfan said: Also, does it look like there is a white line in the center of the grip? Yes looks like a spacer could be aluminum or fiber/plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manayunkman Posted August 3, 2020 Share #17 Posted August 3, 2020 Dear Mom and Dad, Please send me my hunting knife, I need it. That scenario happened quite often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedon Posted August 3, 2020 Share #18 Posted August 3, 2020 All good points. Some Camillus Mark 1's came in a foldover sheath with 3 rivets. Could be a Camillus Mark 1 sheath? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collectsmedals Posted August 3, 2020 Share #19 Posted August 3, 2020 It could be any number of manufactures from that time period. It would be almost impossible to say definitively. I have a Ka-Bar that looks very similar to the one in the photograph but mine has a 4 rivet sheath not a 3 rivet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt14k Posted August 3, 2020 Share #20 Posted August 3, 2020 These are two Western Knives I recently bought because of the bakelite pommel that is a similar birds beak. Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKIPH Posted August 3, 2020 Share #21 Posted August 3, 2020 Mikedon- FWIW, Camillus MK1 drawings were submitted in Nov 1943, the aviator died in early 43', not a MK1 sheath by virtue of time frame. . But, we know the fold-over scabbards existed long before that. If the pilot was stationed in Alaska, could have been any commercial maker at the time, or whatever the Air Corps could get their hands on. That has always been a popular style knife. SKIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SolWarrior Posted August 8, 2020 Share #22 Posted August 8, 2020 The OP knife does look like a Western. A smaller pattern though, like this one at 7 1/4" OAL with a three rivet sheath as well. However, I don't know the circa on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capt14k Posted August 8, 2020 Share #23 Posted August 8, 2020 The OP knife does look like a Western. A smaller pattern though, like this one at 7 1/4" OAL with a three rivet sheath as well. However, I don't know the circa on it. That has brass crossguard so it would be post war. Also doesn't look like it has Pat number so 1960s or later I believe Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactroop Posted August 9, 2020 Share #24 Posted August 9, 2020 The patent was for the bifurcated tang and should have run out in 1953. However the tang stamps on the fixed blade knives seem to start transforming before then. Western also starts stamping the reverse side of the blade with the stock number of the knife about the time that the patent number goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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