Camillus M3 Presentation?

W

wartreasure

Joined
Jun 3, 2003
Messages
2
Hello all,
I ran across this interesting Camillus M3 (presentation?)...

m3_01a.jpg


...and I am dazzled by it's uniqueness and beauty. I have seen many a Cammillus come and go (M3 is my all time favorite blade design) and this is the only Ivory (or whale bone?) handled example I have ever seen. I don't know if that means these were/are uncommon, just that I havn't seen one. Moreover it is apparently of WWII vintage as it is engraved on one side of the blade and dated "1945".

m3_02a.jpg

m3_03a.jpg


What puzzles me however is the spelling. The engrgaving reads "BRIS GEN SWIFT", "AUGEST 1945", "FROM 3RD BALT 508TH".

As you see "BRIS" should probably be "BRIG" and "AUGEST", "AUGUST" plus I have never seen "Battalion" abbreviated to "BALT".

Well, my first thought was this a "fake" (the engraving I mean), perhaps made in Eastern Europe after the war. Then I got to thinking maybe this was presentation knife "rejected" for it's obviously incorrect spelling and the poor sot who ruined it was demoted to E1 or made to sweep the floors at the Camillus factory.

I did a little research and came up with a few vague references to "Gen. Swift" on the web..

http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1945/jan45/09jan45.htm
http://www.ussnicholas.org/keith.html
http://ranger95.crosswinds.net/military_history/asiatic_pacific_theatre/luzon.html

This could be "Lt. Gen. Innis P. Swift" refered to in the 3rd link.

and some info on the U.S. 508TH "Military Police Battalion" in 1945 Germany.

And after all this research.. I still havn't a clue as to how this knife ever came to being or the connection to Gen. Swift and the 508th. I am hoping some uber-sleuth historian at Camillus knows everything about it or Gen. Swift reads these boards and has the one that wasn't rejected and is sitting in mint condition on his mantle.

In any event, I just thought I would share this "unique", and beautiful knife with you all.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, opinions and/or information.

Best regards,

:)

Bob Lusk
War Treasure®
 
I do not have any idea, but I would think that it probably had nothing to do with camillus, but someone who re-worked one for presentaion purposes.
 
Thanks for your replies.

Helpfull to know Camillus didnt add the handle, and the crossguard too was probably added "aftermarket". As for the engraving, I would still like to know the origin and connection between Gen. Swift and the 508th. Any further help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Bob
 
Maybe it was put together in Germany by a German craftsman. That would explain the spelling problems. The date is around three months after Germany surrendered. Maybe that is when the 508th started policing in Germany. The knife might have been made a bit later to commemorate their arrival.
 
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