Military Clasp Knives







I probably should have taken more care in arranging the order of that group shot, but the next knife in the top row is this Nowill knife. It's a hybrid pattern, but a fairly common one. It's a bit shorter than the WW1 knife, with a closed length of 4 3/8". The spearpoint blade is 3" in length, and the marlin spike almost exactly the same. The can-opener (or 'tin-opener' as it would have been called) is of the 1939-1945 design, without the bottle-opener. The shackle is steel rather than copper (on the standard post-1939 pattern, the copper shackle was replaced by a steel one in 1942). The scales are flat and made of compressed fibre, similar to leather. I had to remove some material at one end because it had swollen under the pivot pin.



Smiling-Knife, I'd be grateful for your correction if I get anything wrong! :) :thumbup:

Jack
 
HI Jack. Nice knife. Flook's book suggests that these were WWII knives but a less common pattern. I think you analysis of the age is correct... most likely 1941- early 1945.
 
There is also a version without the marline spike. It's a little shorter than the three piece pattern.

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Excellent S-K, I think that's the first time I've seen that two-piece pattern, thanks for showing them :thumbup:
 
The sixth knife in the top row of my group shot is the knife which, in 1938, replaced the Admiralty Pattern 301, as the British Navy issue clasp knife, and was in service until 1986. My grandfather gave me a Rodgers version when I was young, and it’s the only knife that I’ve ever lost . I intend to pick up one or two more of these when I come across them at a fair price, but currently this is my only example, kindly gifted to me by ADEE. It’s made by John Allen & Sons of Sheffield, and has the pre-1941 copper shackle. It is 4 ½” closed, not including the screwdriver, with a 3” Sheepsfoot blade (a tad shorter in this case).





 
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harronek said:


The big one I found amongst a pile of my fathers knives that I inherited last year .
The small one I've only just got, I don't even know if it belongs in a Military knife thread , sorry if it doesn't .
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Hi Ken,

I've just come across a similar or identical knife elsewhere, will PM you a link :thumbup:

Jack
 
The seventh knife in the top row of my group shot was made by Richards of Sheffield in 1944. It's the post-1939 British Army clasp knife, generally known as the WW2 pattern. It is 3 3/4" long, not including the screwdriver, with a 2 3/8" sheepsfoot blade. The covers are Bexoid. From 1943 onwards, the pattern was simplified, and the separate bolster phased out. It has the post-1941 steel shackle, and the pre-1945 tin-opener blade, which lacks the bottle-opener (cap-lifter). The nail-nicks on this knife are on opposite sides, but that varies. The pattern was produced until around 1950.

 
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The next knife along is in the same pattern as the Richards, but made by Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield in 1939, when the pattern was introduced. The shackle is copper, and the nail-nicks are on the same side.











 
Thanks for posting your great collection and the description of each knife is very informative. I like the photo of the sailors.

This is a Joseph Rodgers WWII Navy knife.

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Lovely S-K, you didn't find that one in Limb Valley near Whirlow Park by any chance did you?! ;) :D

I did think about saving the pic of the sailors for a caption competition :D :thumbup:

Jack
 
smiling-knife said:
Thanks very much Jack. What year was your Rodgers sailor's knife?
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LOL! I'm afraid I have no idea my friend. When I was a very small boy, my grandad gave me a WW2 pattern that was so hard to open that, even as an adult, I generally left it open in my tool-box, and the Navy knife, which was in mint condition, and which he referred to as his 'commando knife'. While the spring was very strong on the Navy knife, I could open it, but because of its size i often carried it in the pocket of the gas-mask bag I took hiking with me as a kid. One day, when I was about 11, while walking through the woods at the top of Limb Valley, I looked for it and it wasn't there. I re-traced my steps, but never found it, and I've never worked out how exactly I lost it. I guess it just worked its way out of my bag, but I've always been very careful with things. It's a shame as my grandad gave it to me, and losing it still irks 40-odd years later. But I guess it could have been worse - it could have landed on my foot! ;) :D
 
Knife number 9 on the top row of my group shot is similar to the previous two knives, but made by HM Slater Ltd of Sheffield (a firm which is still on the go) in 1940. The date is stamped on the reverse of the blade and also on the tin-opener. The nail-nicks are on opposite sides.







 
Moving along, the next knife is made by Taylor's Eye Witness of Sheffield in 1944. Five years into WW2, it had now become necessary to simplify production, and so together with the copper bail, the bolster was sacrificed (phased in from 1943). The tin-opener blade still lacks a bottle-opener.



 
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The last knife in the top row of my group shot is a very recent acquisition. It was given to me by a friend, who bought it from a local antique shop, where it had sat for a couple of years. I'm afraid my kind friend got scalped :( The knife has no provenance beyond 'Sheffield England'. It has the early-style tin-opener blade, with steel shackle and no bolster, the nail nicks are on opposite sides. While the pattern (with added bottle-opener) was produced officially until around 1950, knives of this type were produced for the civilian market well beyond that.

 
The first knife on the second row of my group shot is one of the clasp knives made for the Belgian Army in the early 1950's. This one was made by Libert in 1951. For more information on the Belgian knives, go to page 1 of this thread, and the informative posts of our man in Belgium, Galecerdoshark :thumbup:

 
Second along in the second row of my group shot is a British WW2 pattern knife made by Taylor's Eye Witness of Sheffield. It has the (roughly) post-1942 steel shackle and the (roughly) post-1943 one-piece covers, but the pre-1945 tin-opener blade.. As you can see, some soldier with time on his hands smoothed out the Bexite covers on one side of the knife. Since the job was never finished, I imagine that something more interesting/unpleasant came along, or that he received a stern dressing-down from his Sargent for damaging Her Majesty's kit!





 
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