Named theater made krag bayonet fighting knife

[LE LOUP DES MERS]

Recently picked this up, I was informed by the seller this was possibly carried in WW2 or Korean war. It's definitely theater made, and it for sure was carried judging by how worn the sheath is. You can still see the outline of the blade on the sheath, and there is enough wear around the belt loop 100% indicating this was carried. Now if it was actually combat carried is a different story or if it was even carried in WW2 to begin with. The sheath is in pretty ruff shape but is stamped with:

                               1951

                    Carroll. L. Frenzilli.

            11 Flower. St. Portland M.E. 

I'm guessing 11 Flower st is probably where he lived, I tried finding him but came up empty handed. Even find a grave was completely empty with that name. If this knife is not WW2 then it's for sure Korean war era. His name is also engraved on the handle with: C. L. FRE proving the knife and handle belong together. The blade is a krag bayonet modified into a fighting knife and the handle is made out of aluminum. The blade is engraved with US and 1902 on the other side. The knife like the sheath is in pretty ruff shape. I'll probably send this off to my blade smith and have him restore it. If anyone has any info on the vet please let me know. 

[aznation]

SOURCE:  Newspapers.com

 

 

[aznation]

SOURCE:  Newspapers.com, Find-A-Grave.com, Ancestry.com

 

Note:  Evidently, Carroll also went by Cherubino L Frenzilli according to this article about his son.

 

 

Ancestry - Cherubino L Frenzilli.pdf

[LE LOUP DES MERS]

Hey thanks for the info, that explains why I couldn't find him he went by a different first name. So if he enlisted in WW2 then the seller is correct this might have been carried/made in WW2. But no way to know for sure, to bad the family didn't list his military service in find a grave. 

[aznation]

5 minutes ago, LE LOUP DES MERS said:

Hey thanks for the info, that explains why I couldn't find him he went by a different first name. So if he enlisted in WW2 then the seller is correct this might have been carried/made in WW2. But no way to know for sure, to bad the family didn't list his military service in find a grave. 

 

You're welcome.  What's kind of strange to me is I can't find a WWII Army Enlistment record for him under either spelling of his name.  I can find his brother Rocco's record but not his.  Also, you'll note that one of the newspaper articles "will enter the U.S. Army next week" and the other shows "who will enter the U.S. Army, Tuesday".  Both of those are "will" and not "has" entered, so that plus the fact I can find no enlistment record for him makes me wonder if in fact he actually did enter the U.S. Army.  I'm not saying he didn't but...  Also, I note the sheath has 1951 stamped on it which of course was after WWII ended.  If he had used the knife/bayonet in WWII maybe he just didn't embellish the sheath until afterwards.  In any case it's a nice knife.  I wish we could actually find evidence of him enlisting in the Army.  That would help.

[LE LOUP DES MERS]

That is strange, you would think if he didn't end up serving there would be a separate news article explaining why. If he got 2 articles about him joining it would make since if he got a 3rd one explaining why he never ended up joining. The only thing I could think of that would explain the knife being named to him. Is if his brother had a krag bayonet made into a fighting knife for him as a souvenir. the sheath was definitely carried, so if he didn't carry it overseas he must have carried it around his city. Or it's possible his brother carried it but typically you wouldn't want to give someone a worn souvenir. So I'd say if he never served the likely answer he probably carried it as his every day carry. But you could also argue that a 14 inch knife is a bit overkill for everyday carry. But I guess we'll never know.

[aznation]

5 minutes ago, LE LOUP DES MERS said:

That is strange, you would think if he didn't end up serving there would be a separate news article explaining why. If he got 2 articles about him joining it would make since if he got a 3rd one explaining why he never ended up joining. The only thing I could think of that would explain the knife being named to him. Is if his brother had a krag bayonet made into a fighting knife for him as a souvenir. the sheath was definitely carried, so if he didn't carry it overseas he must have carried it around his city. Or it's possible his brother carried it but typically you wouldn't want to give someone a worn souvenir. So I'd say if he never served the likely answer he probably carried it as his every day carry. But you could also argue that a 14 inch knife is a bit overkill for everyday carry. But I guess we'll never know.

 

Indeed strange.  I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been another explaining why he didn't end up joining.  It could of been for some sort of medical reason or something like that, which would've been possibly embarrassing to him.  There's a chance he was given the knife by his brother but like you I don't believe Carroll would've carried it every day.  Now, his brother maybe carried it during his service.  I went back and searched newspaper articles on his brother Rocco just to see if any of the articles mentioned that his brother was in the service but I couldn't find anything like that.  His brother Rocco however at the time of his discharge was a SSgt and a paratrooper.  Another article stated he was at Camp Mackall.  I could see his brother Rocco giving him that knife but like you said we'll probably never know.  Maybe others may have some insight they'd care to share with you, like do they actually think Carroll, a.k.a. Cherubino actually enlisted in the Army or not and their thoughts on the knife in general.

[AxolotlHelmet]

Just to add some more to the story, according to their marriage announcement later that year in November 1942, Mr. Frenzilli was employed at the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corp. 

[AxolotlHelmet]

Furthermore, I found a 1951 article detailing that Mr. Frenzilli and a few of his friends were going on a hunting trip, so perhaps this knife is one that he carried during those trips.

[LE LOUP DES MERS]

Well I guess that proves he never ended up serving in WW2. I'm wondering how he was able to join then back out last minute. I guess that backs up the story of his brother getting it made and gifting it to him as a souvenir after the war. However I personally believe his brother carried it in WW2. That would be the only logical way you could explain the heavy wear around the sheath. I don't think this was an everyday carry. Even if he wore it on hunting trips it would take a lot of hunting trips to achieve that type of wear. But well never know unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable on krag bayonets. But does the 1902 on the blade indicate the date 1902? So that's when the bayonet was originally made? 

[aznation]

9 hours ago, LE LOUP DES MERS said:

Well I guess that proves he never ended up serving in WW2. I'm wondering how he was able to join then back out last minute. I guess that backs up the story of his brother getting it made and gifting it to him as a souvenir after the war. However I personally believe his brother carried it in WW2. That would be the only logical way you could explain the heavy wear around the sheath. I don't think this was an everyday carry. Even if he wore it on hunting trips it would take a lot of hunting trips to achieve that type of wear. But well never know unfortunately, I'm not knowledgeable on krag bayonets. But does the 1902 on the blade indicate the date 1902? So that's when the bayonet was originally made? 

 

First off, good catch on the other articles you found @AxolotlHelmet   That does confirm that Carroll didn't actually join the Army afterall.  I'm with you LE LOUP DES MERS on your thought that the knife probably belonged to his brother Rocco (the paratrooper) and was gifted to Carroll.  I believe this for the same reasons you gave, the extreme wear of the sheath and that fact it would not be something a civilian would've carried that much.  I guess there's the slight possibility that the knife was picked up by Carroll from someone or somewhere else other than his brother.  The 1902 does indicate the date of the Krag's manufacture.  It is not a serial number of the Krag.