This knife and sheath present some odd features, thought I would see if anyone has one like it or may have further information on it.

 

The blade is the #5679 as used both commercially and on the early WW2 Army Air Force Emergency Kit knife. The marking is the oval three line CAMILLUS / CUTLERY CO, / CAMILLUS, N.Y.

 

The guard is steel rather than brass as is normally found on the AAF knife.

 

The grip is stacked leather washers, with no colored fiber spacers as on the AAF.

 

The pommel is the black plastic version as used on the USN Mark 1 knife, with a steel retaining nut instead of the brass used on the AAF.

 

Basically the grip is the one used on the USN Mark 1 except it is about 1/4 inch shorter.

 

The sheath is the 11 rivet Mosser as used on the AAF but is marked USN.

 

So what is it? Possibly a prototype for the USN Mark 1 which used a simpler blade without fuller and ricasso choil? Or something put together at the factory by an employee for his own use? Almost certainly WW2 period, and the sheath would point to a Navy use.

 

First photo shows the AAF knife and sheath on the left, the unknown in the center, and a USN Mark 1 with the standard unmarked Brauer Brothers sheath.

 

Second photo shows the knife and sheath in closeup.

 

Any information and comments welcome.

 

 

I’d have to dig through my notes. But if you wouldn’t mind some conjecture for openers? I seem to remember that Camillus provided about 60,000 of the knives shown on the left. I believe they went to both USAAF and the Navy. Could it be that the middle knife may be the results of a theater repair? From the picture it does appear to me that the tang length of the two fullered knives are at least approximately the same.

:think:

Gary you refer to these as survival kit knives. I'm interested because one of the few things we have from my father in laws service time in WW2 is his 5 in Case (Ideal pattern) knife. The Camillus and Case ( I believe it's pattern number is 322-5) are almost identical. He said it was issued to him as a glider pilot while they were waiting in England for D-Day. I suppose it's just as likely that a curious glider pilot went rifling through a survival kit and ended up telling the other pilots where they could find this neat knife. Anyway according to my father in law the GP's generally carried these knives on their side and even spent some of their down time back at base throwing them at trees and other targets of convenience. He did tell me that he liked that knife so much that he once backtracked over a mile thru unsecured territory to a ditch where he had left it.

It does appear to be a repaired knife with the handle grip installed incorrectly as the pommel does not line up with the washers or it is loose.

 

The Emergency Sustenance Kits were issued to most flyers in the form of seat kits and backpad kits so there is every reason to believe it was issued. Many of the knives were purchased by the companies that made or assembled those kits so were not direct purchase by the government. Just because we can not find a contract for a specific knife does not exclude it from being an issue knife.

 

All the best

Frank Trzaska

It is certainly possible that the grip (guard, leather, pommel and nut) is a replacement.

 

The fit of the pommel is actually as good as most Mark 1 knives - just the photo makes it look bad.

It looks to me like an Mk1 guard, handle & pommel used on an Air Corps knife as a replacement...maybe shortened by a few washers.

I am in agreement, it appears to be a field repaired 'hybrid' to me as well.

 

Tim

Whoever did the repair / changeover did a decent job as the washers near the pommel had to be reduced in diameter to meet the pommel correctly. Close inspection does appear that the washers were smoothed down somewhat and well done, so it was not just someone who pulled a few washers out to shorten the stack to fit. No way now of course to determine if it was done during the war or sometime later. Unfortunately I have no history of the knife so don't know if it came from a vet who carried it that way or if it was done post war.

 

I still don't recall ever seeing an 11 rivet Mosser sheath with the USN mark before. Does anyone else have one?

I still don't recall ever seeing an 11 rivet Mosser sheath with the USN mark before. Does anyone else have one?

 

I don't. But something else to keep my eye out for. :think: How does the font of this stamping compare to other "USN" sheaths you have? The "U" looks like it may be slightly offset like the letters were stamped individually.

I don't. But something else to keep my eye out for. :think: How does the font of this stamping compare to other "USN" sheaths you have? The "U" looks like it may be slightly offset like the letters were stamped individually.

 

I was thinking of the hand stamped possibility also. I would imagine that letter die stamps would be fairly common on ship in all sizes.

It is difficult to tell for sure since the markings on the different makers sheathes varied quite a bit and I have nothing else by this maker to compare it with. But the U is indeed slightly tilted, so it is not impossible that this marking was applied later.

 

Thanks to all for your help and comments.

Gary-Thanks for showing! It's a really interesting knife. SKIP

I just checked my AAF knives and discovered that I have the same odd Camillus as you. Same exact details, except the scabbard is not marked USN. The pommel doesn't quite fit right. It's a little off set.