Hi guys

 

Recently I was gifted an Australian WW2 1944 whittingslowe made Commando knife that was made for the US troops as a local alternative for the New Guinea/Pacific theater.
As you can tell by the condition, it has been well used and sharpened within an inch of its life😁

it has all the correct markings for this maker, so the knife is a fantastic used era correct piece, it’s just the scabbard that I do not think is correct or original to this knife. Has anyone seen a scabbard like this before? It has a 1944 stamping on the leather, the leather doesn’t smell, but the rivets also look abit suss for the era🤷‍♂️

what are your thoughts, any help identifying would be great😁

 

Repro. Authentic?

Danny,

 

Not exactly sure what you have there - probably a bit of a Frankenknife.

 

The crow's foot with 'I' tells me that it (or that part of the hilt) was made in India.

 

Best

 

Mike

Ah Mike sorry forgot to add, no, apparently that was the common belief, but in the case of these knives, an Australian commando knife manufactured by Whittingslowe Engineering in 1944, the "I" combined with a broad arrow specifically stands for "Inspected". 

This marking indicates that the weapon was officially accepted into military service after passing government quality control. While many Commonwealth knives use this mark to denote Indian ownership, on Whittingslowe knives, it is a standard Australian Army inspection/acceptance stamp. 
this is widely accepted nowadays on these particular knives, not an Indian stamp. The contract was a US contract in 1944 for Australia to make a local alternative for US troop based in Aus to use in New Guinea & the pacific, it was also adopted by Australian commandos. 
 The knife is ok, the scabbard I’m not sure, but also there where different makers for the scabbard, but just can’t find one anywhere that has the same look🤷‍♂️

this history game hey, a lot of piecing together through lost arts😁