M3 Trench Knife with M8 scabbard

[Barbasol]

Recently I had the opportunity to by some stuff from a friend. He had a lot of bajonets and some de-activated rifles including a sten, a Kar 98K and some German MP43 parts. He also had a M8 flare gun and a battered M3 knife. Because I collect US ETO the latter attrected my attention. For a few peanuts I purchased 3 items. One of them was this M3 Knife and M8 scabberd. I already posted it on facebook, but maybe I reach a broader audience within this forum. The knife is a M3 Imperial but I think it is composed of two knifes or the blade was broken and re-attached. The tip of the scabbard is broken and the leather had better days, but I like it because I think this knife has seen some serious action.

 

 

 

 

[SKIPH]

Barbasol- I must agree with your appraisal of this knife having serious hard use in it;s life. Really difficult from the pictures to tell if it has a welded blade, but I can see what appears to be a slight crack. Since you picked it up in the Netherlands, I would expect it was issued, and used by an American paratrooper.  SKIP

[MattS]

This could have been a 1943 dated knife, but the other half of the original blade looks to be long gone. Either way, it dates to 1943 to mid-1944 when the markings moved to the guard. Looks like an early M8 scabbard as well. Neat piece of history that probably found its way to Europe on a GI's belt.