I have been meaning to get a pic of these and post it here for some time. Knives made by family are valuable enough, but add a good story and they become priceless.
When my grandfather signed with the Navy at the beginning of WWII, his brother and father were determined to send him off with tools they knew would not fail him. They were both wood workers by trade, but had enough experience with their hands that it was not too much of a challenge to get this pair finished in time. The blades were done by his brother, and the handles and sheathes by his father. When he was leaving they presented both knives and the book shown in the picture. The knives were for him to do what needed to be done, and the book, my great grandfather told him, was to learn a skill that made him unique among his fellow men.
While neither knife saw any action, that book is the reason I am sitting here today typing this post. On the day of embarkation, while my grandfather was boarding, a call went down the line for crew who knew shorthand. My grandfather called out and his detail was changed to an intelligence ship. The ship he had been boarding was lost in the Battle of Java Sea along with its crew.
As for the knives themselves, I do not know the blade steel except that it is not stainless. The trench knife handle is cast brass with ebony scales. The larger knife is cast brass and stacked leather. They were so proud of the trench knife that they actually had it patented. The patent still exists, but is being held by my great-uncle (who made both blades). One of these days I will convince him to let me keep it with the knife. OK, enough of me blabbing. On to the pic:
For scale, the large knife measures 18.5".
-- Adam
03-31-2006, 11:20 AM
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