If A Knife Could Talk What Stories Would It Tell..........

[knife7knut]

OK;it's Sunday morning and I'm sitting at my,"evil computer" terminal listening to 1920's jazz music and re-arranging my document file and come across this picture that I would like to share.Depending on your perspective it isn't what you would call a "pretty" knife by any stretch of the imagination but it does provoke some thought when you hold it in your hand and examine it closely.
At 5 plus inches in length closed and over an inch thick it conveys a sense that whomever used this knife was used to heavy duty work and used this one for MANY years.The stag scales are a dark and smooth from many years of hard use.The one piece liners/grooved bolsters indicate that it was likely made in the mid 19th century or perhaps some time before.
It must have been a valued tool as the blade was replaced at some time with a somewhat crude hand made piece of steel that is still shaving sharp.A very crude nail mark is gouged into the blade and is needed as the back spring still operates more like a bear trap.
Holding it in the hand it is surprisingly light for it's mass and actually feels quite comfortable.
So here we have a knife that is somewhere north of 150 years old and has somehow survived;thanks in no small part to an unknown owner who cared enough to re-fit a new(albeit hand made)blade to extend it's service life.Makes you wonder what secrets it holds doesn't it? Anyway here it is for your Sunday viewing pleasure.I'm headed out for a coffee and a Sunday newspaper and will spend the rest of the day with my bride reading and doing crossword puzzles.Have a great day all!

[bladeguy58]

Knifenut,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I think that is a gorgeous specimen to be that old. Very nice piece!

[bladeguy58]

Ok folk I've got one for you and I knew one of the owners so sit back and hopefully enjoy but be warned this story comes with grief. Lets start with the knife which is a Sykes-Fairbairn Dagger that was originally issued to the British Commando's during WWII. Those commando's (SAS or OES) were one if not the original Special Forces units and from where our very own Army Special Forces got their coveted Green Beret's thanks to JFK. My son Aaron was a Green Beret just like our very own Charles Noyes. 3 years ago this Memorial Day weekend my son along with a group of 6 vehicles were on a mission into the Wardak Province of Afghanistan and he along with his MWD (Military working dog) Hunter, 4 other US solders and one Afghani solder were in the lead vehicle where they ran over an IED. My son, his dog along with two of the other US soldiers and the Afghani were killed. Little did anyone know but that was the beginning of a 6 hour ambush, but fortunately everyone else on our side got out without anymore injuries.
So fast forward to about a year later and we're at a softball game for our grand-daughter and one of the other grand-parents who was also a Green Beret in Vietnam comes up to me and tells me he's going to bring me something, needless to say I was very excited and he also knew I collected knives. At our next tournament he presented me with that S-F dagger, an original NIB bayonet for an M16 and one of the original Challenge coin from the 3rd Group Special Forces which is the group both he and my son were in.
Ok so here comes the historical part; my friend that gave me the knife said when he was at Fort Bragg NC they were doing joint training with the British Commando's and one of the guys he became friends with who had used the Dagger in WWII gave it to my friend who in turn used it during his time in Vietnam. When he gave me that knife I was in tears and even remembering that moment makes me tear up, I didn't know what to say! I asked if he was sure he wanted to give such a special part of his past and not give it to one of his kids and he said he would rather give it to me knowing how special it would be. Needless to say that dagger is and will always be at the top of my collection.
Thanks,
Richard

[RobesonsRme.com]

Richard, so sorry to hear about the death of your son, his friends/Team-mates and the canine. God Bless You, my friend, your wife and your son's family.

The Fairburn-Sykes is a nice example. U.S. Army Special Forces has had a love affair with that particular knife since their founding in 1954. We trace our roots through The First Special Services Force, a joint US/Canadian outfit, and the O.S.S.

Both those units carried the F-S.

Even though they were prone to break at the hilt, the knives were offered and freely purchased at The Special Forces PX at Ft. Bragg.

The F-S and the Gerber Mark II were the two straight knives most men bought. Some ordered Randall Model One's, but the turn-around time and costs were prohibitive for most.

I was too poor to buy any of the above. I bought a Buck 110 and carried the issue bayonet for the M-16.

A good many SF Teams in Viet Nam presented their departing members with an engraved nickel plated Fairburn-Sykes as a parting gift. I didn't get one of those either.

You've got a great piece with a great history.

I know you'll take good care of it.

Charlie Noyes

[bladeguy58]

Richard, so sorry to hear about the death of your son, his friends/Team-mates and the canine. God Bless You, my friend, your wife and your son's family.

The Fairburn-Sykes is a nice example. U.S. Army Special Forces has had a love affair with that particular knife since their founding in 1954. We trace our roots through The First Special Services Force, a joint US/Canadian outfit, and the O.S.S.

Both those units carried the F-S.

Even though they were prone to break at the hilt, the knives were offered and freely purchased at The Special Forces PX at Ft. Bragg.

The F-S and the Gerber Mark II were the two straight knives most men bought. Some ordered Randall Model One's, but the turn-around time and costs were prohibitive for most.

I was too poor to buy any of the above. I bought a Buck 110 and carried the issue bayonet for the M-16.

A good many SF Teams in Viet Nam presented their departing members with an engraved nickel plated Fairburn-Sykes as a parting gift. I didn't get one of those either.

You've got a great piece with a great history.

I know you'll take good care of it.

Charlie Noyes

Thank you Charlie!

[knife7knut]

Richard:That was a great story and I mourn the loss of your son.Of all the things that happen to us in the course of our lives,the loss of a child is the most horrendous.I have felt that pain.
Strangely it is times like this that actually can make a positive outcome.From ours,we eventually became foster parents and mentored many children over a long period of time.I still have five foster daughters who call me Dad and call at least once a month to see how we are doing.One of them I even got to walk down the aisle at her wedding as her father had been murdered when she was very young.
Anyway the knives you received are treasures and I hope your family will also appreciate them in time.

This next knife I have owned for about 30 years and was also a gift from a good friend who has since passed.Briefly this is how I came to own it:
I used to frequent this combination hobby shop/dry cleaners(!)and the owner was also into knives.He mentioned one time that he would like to get a Buck 110 folder but didn't have the extra cash to do so.
By chance I had just been given a 110 that the point had broken off and I had repaired it.I have never been a fan of the 110(too handle heavy for my tastes)so I made him a present of it.He was very happy and wanted to pay me but I said no;I had no money into it.
For some reason I didn't get back to his shop for several months and when I did he presented me with the knife pictured below.He explained he had bought it from someone about 20 years prior to that and it was just taking up space in the shop;stored away in a paper bag that was slowly disintegrating from the moisture in the shop.Strangely the blade showed mo signs of rust although the ivory was pretty dried out as was the leather covering on the scabbard.
Showed it to a few people but they had no clues about it other than it was a jambiya. A friend of mine was a professor at a nearby university and he had a friend who headed up the Middle Eastern department of another university and offered to take it to him to have him decipher the words inlayed into the blade.
He called a couple weeks later with the translation and also an offer to buy the knife for a rather large sum of money.
I had no intentions of selling it anyway(and I NEVER sell gifts) and thanked him for translating it.
So the translation is roughly,"There is no god but the one god Allah and I am his prophet" which is the first line of the kuran.According to hte professor it was from the Oman province of Syria and made sometime between 1630 and 1680 AD.The blades are very fine watered steel(commonly known as Damascus)and the handles are elephant ivory carved with figures(probably a family).The unusual part about this knife is the small companion dagger within the scabbard.Everyone I have since talked to who is familiar with jambiyas has never seen one like it.
So here we have a dagger nearly 350 years old and still intact.I would wager that it would have MANY stories to tell! Hope you enjoy it.

[bladeguy58]

Richard:That was a great story and I mourn the loss of your son.Of all the things that happen to us in the course of our lives,the loss of a child is the most horrendous.I have felt that pain.
Strangely it is times like this that actually can make a positive outcome.From ours,we eventually became foster parents and mentored many children over a long period of time.I still have five foster daughters who call me Dad and call at least once a month to see how we are doing.One of them I even got to walk down the aisle at her wedding as her father had been murdered when she was very young.
Anyway the knives you received are treasures and I hope your family will also appreciate them in time.

This next knife I have owned for about 30 years and was also a gift from a good friend who has since passed.Briefly this is how I came to own it:
I used to frequent this combination hobby shop/dry cleaners(!)and the owner was also into knives.He mentioned one time that he would like to get a Buck 110 folder but didn't have the extra cash to do so.
By chance I had just been given a 110 that the point had broken off and I had repaired it.I have never been a fan of the 110(too handle heavy for my tastes)so I made him a present of it.He was very happy and wanted to pay me but I said no;I had no money into it.
For some reason I didn't get back to his shop for several months and when I did he presented me with the knife pictured below.He explained he had bought it from someone about 20 years prior to that and it was just taking up space in the shop;stored away in a paper bag that was slowly disintegrating from the moisture in the shop.Strangely the blade showed mo signs of rust although the ivory was pretty dried out as was the leather covering on the scabbard.
Showed it to a few people but they had no clues about it other than it was a jambiya. A friend of mine was a professor at a nearby university and he had a friend who headed up the Middle Eastern department of another university and offered to take it to him to have him decipher the words inlayed into the blade.
He called a couple weeks later with the translation and also an offer to buy the knife for a rather large sum of money.
I had no intentions of selling it anyway(and I NEVER sell gifts) and thanked him for translating it.

Knifenut,
Yes life is interesting and how tragedy can present a wonderful opportunity and we also fostered a daughter that was being abused by her mom so I know that feeling. Thank you for your kind words.
That knife is gorgeous and the story behind is equally wonderful. Wow what a piece of world history! I also have a pair of swords that my son bought me from a bazaar in Afghanistan while there and it took me years to find out the language on them is Urdu but still haven't found anyone to translate them. There are new so no really history to go with them like your but the fact that my son gave them to me is all the history I need. Thanks for sharing such a great story!
Richard
So the translation is roughly,"There is no god but the one god Allah and I am his prophet" which is the first line of the kuran.According to hte professor it was from the Oman province of Syria and made sometime between 1630 and 1680 AD.The blades are very fine watered steel(commonly known as Damascus)and the handles are elephant ivory carved with figures(probably a family).The unusual part about this knife is the small companion dagger within the scabbard.Everyone I have since talked to who is familiar with jambiyas has never seen one like it.
So here we have a dagger nearly 350 years old and still intact.I would wager that it would have MANY stories to tell! Hope you enjoy it.

[whitebuffalo58]

Great knives and great stories guys! Here's a knife and story that I don't think i've ever shared with anyone outside of the family. AAPK is family too.
My oldest son Michael, graduated high school in 1996. Afterward he moved to Branson to work and continue his education. I started making a few knives around 1995.
While home for my birthday in the first week of April 1998, he and I spent time in the shop and he started his first custom. Over the weekend he designed, cutout, cleaned up and made the blade grinds and drilled all the holes in the blade. He had also cut out the pieces of copper for the bolsters. He stayed as long as he could, but had to get back to Branson for work the next morning. Before he could come back to finish the knife, he was killed in a car wreck on April 18th 1998.
I came across the unfinished knife a few days after the funeral and out of anger and frustration, was tempted to melt it down. But after reflection and much prayer, decided to go ahead and finish it. My youngest son, who was only 8 at the time helped as much as he could, there wasn't a lot he could do, but stuck with me through the entire process and it somehow helped us all to bring atleast a little bit of closure to whole tragedy. We presented the knife to my wife on Mothers Day that following May.
All work on the knife was done by the three of us, whether precently at the time or postumously. Michael was a great kid and i'm sure he would be happy with the decisions we made in finishing the knife. Here it is in the display case we built for it. Thanks for letting me share this. It's coming up on 16 years and it's still hard to think about.

WB

[bladeguy58]

Great knives and great stories guys! Here's a knife and story that I don't think i've ever shared with anyone outside of the family. AAPK is family too.
My oldest son Michael, graduated high school in 1996. Afterward he moved to Branson to work and continue his education. I started making a few knives around 1995.
While home for my birthday in the first week of April 1998, he and I spent time in the shop and he started his first custom. Over the weekend he designed, cutout, cleaned up and made the blade grinds and drilled all the holes in the blade. He had also cut out the pieces of copper for the bolsters. He stayed as long as he could, but had to get back to Branson for work the next morning. Before he could come back to finish the knife, he was killed in a car wreck on April 18th 1998.
I came across the unfinished knife a few days after the funeral and out of anger and frustration, was tempted to melt it down. But after reflection and much prayer, decided to go ahead and finish it. My youngest son, who was only 8 at the time helped as much as he could, there wasn't a lot he could do, but stuck with me through the entire process and it somehow helped us all to bring atleast a little bit of closure to whole tragedy. We presented the knife to my wife on Mothers Day that following May.
All work on the knife was done by the three of us, whether precently at the time or postumously. Michael was a great kid and i'm sure he would be happy with the decisions we made in finishing the knife. Here it is in the display case we built for it. Thanks for letting me share this. It's coming up on 16 years and it's still hard to think about.

SANY0002.JPG

SANY0003.JPG

WB

Wow that was powerful and it really touched me. WB I know that knife is your families prized possession as are the memories of your son, thank you for sharing!

[RobesonsRme.com]

Another tragic story with a positive aspect, knife related.

I know that faith and prayer will get one through anything, but I've got to hand it to all of you that have lost a child and come through it.

My twelve year old nephew died suddenly in 1976. That hit me hard enough. I cannot imagine losing one of my sons or any of my grandchildren.

God bless you all.

Charlie Noyes

[bladeguy58]

Another tragic story with a positive aspect, knife related.

I know that faith and prayer will get one through anything, but I've got to hand it to all of you that have lost a child and come through it.

My twelve year old nephew died suddenly in 1976. That hit me hard enough. I cannot imagine losing one of my sons or any of my grandchildren.

God bless you all.

Charlie Noyes

Thank you Charlie!

[whitebuffalo58]

Bladeguy, my heart goes out to you as well and God bless your son and family for making the supreme sacrifice for our country.
God bless you too Charlie and thank you for your service to help insure our freedom.

WB

[bladeguy58]

Bladeguy, my heart goes out to you as well and God bless your son and family for making the supreme sacrifice for our country.
God bless you too Charlie and thank you for your service to help insure our freedom.

WB

Thank you WB!

[treefarmer]

Posts like these make AAPK a special place! Thank you all for sharing such touching life events.
Sincerely,
Treefarmer

[bladeguy58]

Posts like these make AAPK a special place! Thank you all for sharing such touching life events.
Sincerely,
Treefarmer

It's too bad we're all so scattered because if we all got together we could have one heck of a party! I think the majority of most posters are East and South, there's just a handful of us Westerners. Just a great group of people!

[knife7knut]

Here is another that I would wager has a few stories to tell.Although I have had it for only a short period of time just holding it in my hand starts to get my mind thinking of a bunch of possibilities.
The story behind it's acquisition is as follows:
As I have stated before a good source of knives on e-Bay can sometimes be found in the section on letter openers. Many people often mistake a knife for a letter opener and list it as such.I have on several occasions obtained rare knives like this and in this,"Case"(pun intended)it was in spades.
When I see something on e-Bay I would like to get I ask the seller if they accept payment other than PayPal(such as postal money orders) as I do not use it or credit cards(a VERY long story).If they say no then I go on but if they say yes then I will bid.
One of the reasons I do this is if the deal goes bad and there is a suspicion that the seller is attempting to defraud you the Post Office will go after them if the amount is over $25.Most people will not like the prospect of the US government going after them and make it right.
To get back to the story;I was perusing e-Bay and came across this advertised as a letter opener with two knives and an opening bid of $30. It looked as though this,"letter opener" was actually a very rare knife and the other two were not too bad either though far from valuable.
I contacted the seller(an antique store in Florida)and they were amenable to money orders so I bid and eventually won the auction. As an aside the shop had over a thousand items on e-Bay and those were the only knives they had!
While waiting for the knives to arrive I posted pictures here of the knife in question(see,"Another is it real post" in the Case knives forum)to try and get feedback.Got a few responses which seemed positive but cautious.
When they arrived I was not disappointed.Just looking at the,"letter opener" I had the feeling that it was the real deal.Carefully removing the ugly handle and gently cleaning it with the trusty lead pencil brought out the original finish nicely.
After conversations with a noted military collector who owns several of these knives it was determined that it was unique in a couple of ways.First that the blade;which was normally blued,had not been subjected to this treatment.This has been noted on some of this model before as the company did not blue their knives in-house but rather sent them to a sub-contractor for the process and then back for final assembly.
Another the fact that it had not been sharpened or had the tip blunted(as a lot of users were prone to do).
Lastly and most important was the absence of a point on the pommel.Production knives had this feature but the several prototypes that were built did not.However the prototypes used a different shaped pommel and the blade did not have the so-called,"thumb print" cut into the blade which this one has.So what I had was likely a very unique example of a Case V-42 dagger!
We did discuss another possibility:That it was one of the fakes that had appeared in the late 1970's that had supposedly been made in England.After examining the pictures I had sent him he was of the opinion that it was not one of those as they were pretty crude in construction.
So here we have somewhat of an enigma:How did this knife escape the normal bluing process,come to have a non standard pommel,never been sharpened,lose it's leather handle,and wind up in an antique shop in Florida some 70 years after it was made?
Did;as it was suggested,possibly,"walk" out of the factory as a "lunch box"knife? If so what happened to the handle? If it spent most of it's life in Florida then the handle deterioration could be explained but not the relative absence of corrosion on the steel.Who put that ugly handle on it?
The handle was made out of some unknown type of plastic that had the consistency of a bowling ball.Almost impossible to cut,I wound up using a heat gun to finally remove it.Questions unfortunately I will likely never have the answer to.
The other two knives were an Anton Wingen small hunter probably from the 1950's or 60's and the Kershaw was a newer one I wasn't familiar with.
Anyway that is the story to date.Oh and I almost forgot:The total price for all three knives with shipping was $53.68.Not a bad investment.They ARE still out there..............you just have to keep looking.

[bladeguy58]

Here is another that I would wager has a few stories to tell.Although I have had it for only a short period of time just holding it in my hand starts to get my mind thinking of a bunch of possibilities.
The story behind it's acquisition is as follows:
As I have stated before a good source of knives on e-Bay can sometimes be found in the section on letter openers. Many people often mistake a knife for a letter opener and list it as such.I have on several occasions obtained rare knives like this and in this,"Case"(pun intended)it was in spades.
When I see something on e-Bay I would like to get I ask the seller if they accept payment other than PayPal(such as postal money orders) as I do not use it or credit cards(a VERY long story).If they say no then I go on but if they say yes then I will bid.
One of the reasons I do this is if the deal goes bad and there is a suspicion that the seller is attempting to defraud you the Post Office will go after them if the amount is over $25.Most people will not like the prospect of the US government going after them and make it right.
To get back to the story;I was perusing e-Bay and came across this advertised as a letter opener with two knives and an opening bid of $30. It looked as though this,"letter opener" was actually a very rare knife and the other two were not too bad either though far from valuable.
I contacted the seller(an antique store in Florida)and they were amenable to money orders so I bid and eventually won the auction. As an aside the shop had over a thousand items on e-Bay and those were the only knives they had!
While waiting for the knives to arrive I posted pictures here of the knife in question(see,"Another is it real post" in the Case knives forum)to try and get feedback.Got a few responses which seemed positive but cautious.
When they arrived I was not disappointed.Just looking at the,"letter opener" I had the feeling that it was the real deal.Carefully removing the ugly handle and gently cleaning it with the trusty lead pencil brought out the original finish nicely.
After conversations with a noted military collector who owns several of these knives it was determined that it was unique in a couple of ways.First that the blade;which was normally blued,had not been subjected to this treatment.This has been noted on some of this model before as the company did not blue their knives in-house but rather sent them to a sub-contractor for the process and then back for final assembly.
Another the fact that it had not been sharpened or had the tip blunted(as a lot of users were prone to do).
Lastly and most important was the absence of a point on the pommel.Production knives had this feature but the several prototypes that were built did not.However the prototypes used a different shaped pommel and the blade did not have the so-called,"thumb print" cut into the blade which this one has.So what I had was likely a very unique example of a Case V-42 dagger!
We did discuss another possibility:That it was one of the fakes that had appeared in the late 1970's that had supposedly been made in England.After examining the pictures I had sent him he was of the opinion that it was not one of those as they were pretty crude in construction.
So here we have somewhat of an enigma:How did this knife escape the normal bluing process,come to have a non standard pommel,never been sharpened,lose it's leather handle,and wind up in an antique shop in Florida some 70 years after it was made?
Did;as it was suggested,possibly,"walk" out of the factory as a "lunch box"knife? If so what happened to the handle? If it spent most of it's life in Florida then the handle deterioration could be explained but not the relative absence of corrosion on the steel.Who put that ugly handle on it?
The handle was made out of some unknown type of plastic that had the consistency of a bowling ball.Almost impossible to cut,I wound up using a heat gun to finally remove it.Questions unfortunately I will likely never have the answer to.
The other two knives were an Anton Wingen small hunter probably from the 1950's or 60's and the Kershaw was a newer one I wasn't familiar with.
Anyway that is the story to date.Oh and I almost forgot:The total price for all three knives with shipping was $53.68.Not a bad investment.They ARE still out there..............you just have to keep looking.

That was a good one with lots of curious questions! Nice pieces at an even nicer price!
Richard

[Miller Bro's]

Wow, some powerful and personal stories being told in this thread, thanks to all that contributed.

[garddogg56]

love these stories

[knife7knut]

Here is another knife that could possibly relate some stories:

I acquired this knife about 25 years ago from a fellow worker at the Mercedes-Benz dealership where we worked.He had left the dealership to form his own repair shop and when visiting him one day he presented me with the knife.
He had found it among his father's possessions after his dad had passed away.His father had served in WWII in the ETO(European Theater of Operation) and apparently had brought it home as a souvenir.Paul had mentioned that his father had never talked about the war even after paul had enlisted in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
Having no use for it and knowing I collected knives he gave it to me.He refused to let me pay him for it even though I told him it was pretty valuable at the time.
So here we have a German SA dagger in pretty much unused condition complete with sheath and belt hanger(I guess that is what it is called;I'm not really into military stuff).The blade is un-sharpened and bears the RZM mark,"M7/85" and is rust-free save for a couple very small specks.
The crossguard and pommel show some evidence of the plating starting to chip near the wooden handle.
The sheath is in excellent shape with no dents and just a couple of small blemishes in the psint.
The belt hanger buckle has some small corrosion present but the leather is in excellent shape and stamped,"RZ" in a circle and next to that,"L2/60/41".The clip has an RZM M5/71 and beneath that the letters OLC in a diamond.
From what I have read the SA daggers were produced literally in the thousands so they are far from uncommon.I just look at it and wonder who the person was that carried it and what his fate may have been.Was he killed(perhaps by Paul's father)and his dagger removed? Did he surrender and the dagger wind up in a huge inventory of captured arms only to be,"liberated" as a souvenir. As Paul's father never discussed the war(at least with him anyway)it was likely put away in a trunk;possibly with his uniform and other war memorabilia only to see the light of day again when Paul's father died.
Unfortunately I will never know as all the parties involved (except me)have since died and the stories along with them.
This is one of the reasons I have been trying to finish writing my book;to carry on and make my son and grandson(and maybe even great grandson)try to understand what I was all about.Hopefully one day it will be finished.

[bladeguy58]

Here is another knife that could possibly relate some stories:

I acquired this knife about 25 years ago from a fellow worker at the Mercedes-Benz dealership where we worked.He had left the dealership to form his own repair shop and when visiting him one day he presented me with the knife.
He had found it among his father's possessions after his dad had passed away.His father had served in WWII in the ETO(European Theater of Operation) and apparently had brought it home as a souvenir.Paul had mentioned that his father had never talked about the war even after paul had enlisted in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
Having no use for it and knowing I collected knives he gave it to me.He refused to let me pay him for it even though I told him it was pretty valuable at the time.
So here we have a German SA dagger in pretty much unused condition complete with sheath and belt hanger(I guess that is what it is called;I'm not really into military stuff).The blade is un-sharpened and bears the RZM mark,"M7/85" and is rust-free save for a couple very small specks.
The crossguard and pommel show some evidence of the plating starting to chip near the wooden handle.
The sheath is in excellent shape with no dents and just a couple of small blemishes in the psint.
The belt hanger buckle has some small corrosion present but the leather is in excellent shape and stamped,"RZ" in a circle and next to that,"L2/60/41".The clip has an RZM M5/71 and beneath that the letters OLC in a diamond.
From what I have read the SA daggers were produced literally in the thousands so they are far from uncommon.I just look at it and wonder who the person was that carried it and what his fate may have been.Was he killed(perhaps by Paul's father)and his dagger removed? Did he surrender and the dagger wind up in a huge inventory of captured arms only to be,"liberated" as a souvenir. As Paul's father never discussed the war(at least with him anyway)it was likely put away in a trunk;possibly with his uniform and other war memorabilia only to see the light of day again when Paul's father died.
Unfortunately I will never know as all the parties involved (except me)have since died and the stories along with them.
This is one of the reasons I have been trying to finish writing my book;to carry on and make my son and grandson(and maybe even great grandson)try to understand what I was all about.Hopefully one day it will be finished.

Hey Knifenut,
I never got a chance to let you know that was another great story for this thread, I could read stories like that all day. One often wonders or at least I do if one day one of our knives will provoke a story like that. I'm not going to post it but I have a Kabar Scout or small hunting knife that I bout at a large flea market here and the sheath has an Indian carved in it with a head dress and it has the name Light Foot on the bottom, that often has me going !
Take care,
Richard

[knife7knut]

Going through another knife message board I came across a thread about Randall knives in which the topic was whether a Randall knife was overpriced or not. That got me thinking about the one Randall knife that I own;a Model 7-5.
I acquired the knife many years ago in a swap with a good friend who I suspect bought it at a flea market.I believe it cost me around $200 at the time which was a pretty steep price for any knife then;but I just HAD to have a Randall.
It was in excellent but used condition and had the original owner's name etched into the blade. And there began the wondering:
Who was Bob McKinley? Was he a hunter who wanted a great knife for dressing out game or was he a person who simply admired a good knife? Why did he give up the knife? Did some other knife strike his fancy and he no longer wanted the Randall? Did he die and his heirs sell off his possessions?
Where was he from? The knife was obtained on the East coast so was he a resident there or did he reside in the West?
More questions than answers.

[Miller Bro's]

Wow, where do I start on this one? It's no secret I really like the WWII era Ulster 10th mountain division utility knives. I have at least a dozen of them. The first model had the Phillips screwdriver attached to the bail, it was a weak design and it was quickly discontinued and the screwdriver was relocated to a folding blade. This model is hard to find in good condition, so when this one came up for sale I bought it. I asked the seller if he knew who owned it thinking maybe it was possibly a family member and I could record the owners name for posterity, surprisingly the seller said he got it from his old landlord who was a WWII vet!

Ok, now I'm intrigued so I start asking more questions. He informed me the man's name was Eugene S. Hames, here is exactly what he said "10th Mountain Division, Eugene Hames avid skier and fisherman also one of the greatest men I'm sure I will ever meet. He practiced law in Denver after WWII. "

I thanked him for the information and wrote it all down and attached a note to the knife and put it away for when I had more time for research. Today was that day and this is what I found out about the man. Here's a recollection of the time he served in WWII, a long read but bear with me.

We captured the villa of Mussolini



It was late April 1945- the 10th Mountain Division was acing northward along the east shore of Lake Garda in northern Italy. The Division had fought valiantly in the Apennines during the winter months and spearheaded the Allied breakthrough to and across the Po River.

I was the platoon leader of the First Platoon of Company K of the 85th Regiment.The Platoon had experienced the heavy fighting on Mount Belvedere and in the vicinity of Castel d'Aiano in the Apennines.

On reaching the Po Valley, we had been assigned to Task Force Duff, a special unit that was created to reach the Po River as soon as possible. We were transported by trucks as we proceeded northtoward the Po River. Shortly afte rthe task force was formed and was moving northward, the front units were fired up on and our platoon was ordered to detruck and wipe out the resistance. The rest of the task force by passed the resistance. The fighting was intense but brief - two Germans were killed, several wounded and manys urrendered. The Platoon suffered no casualties thatd ay. We continued to take prisoners, many of whom walked in and gave up. When we finally turned the prisoners into the MP's later that day, we had 360 Germans - not a bad day's work for approximately 40 ski troopers. Since we did not have a truck it took us 2 days to catch up with K-Co. The Division had already crossed the Po River by that time. The Division captured Verona and swung westward and proceeded northtoward BrennerPass.

As the Division was advancing northward along the east shore of Lake Garda, lead battalions from the three regiments changed almost from day to day. One night, when the 3rd Battalion of the 85th was the lead battalion, we walked in a light rain along the lake and we walked so late at night that Inearly fell asleep while Iwas walking. The Germans were fleeing north on the west side of the lake and resistance was very slight. We finally held up for the night in some arge buildings along the road. The next morning I was ordered to the Battalion C.P. to be briefed or a special mission. Iwas told by BN.S - that I was to take a motor boat and ten men from my platoon and we were to cross Lake Garda that afternoon. Our mission was to capture and occupy a villa where Mussolini had been living toward the end of the war. He had setup a puppet government in northern Italy after the Italians had surrendered.

The previous day we had observed, through field glasses some German vehicles proceeding north on the west shore of the lake. We saw some whiteish-looking structures that appeared to be some unusual type of fortification. The shoreline on the westside was mountainous and in some places the terrain rose abruptly for hundreds of feet above the lake shore. There were also a number of tunnels through which the road on the west side of the lake passed as it proceeded north toward Riva, a small town on the north end of the lake.

Since I knew the Germans were retreating north on the west shore, I had a great deal of concern about crossing the lake during day light hours. In a small boat we would be a sitting duck. I returned to the platoon area and advised the troopers of the mission. We were to take a number of automatic weapons with us so we would have considerable fire power as we crossed the lake. I asked for "volunteers", and we were in the process of deciding which ten men would go and what fire power we would take when a jeep drove up. A full Colonel was seated in the front in the passenger seat; an officer I had never seen before. When Isaw the"chicken" on his shoulder and 10th Mountain patch,I went over to the jeep and saluted him. He asked me what we were doing and after I explained to him what my mission was, he said "I on't like this, Lieutenant". I said " I don't either, Sir", and he then cancelled the mission. Later, I learned I had been talking to Colonel Darby, the famous ranger who had joined the 10th Mountain Divisionas Assistant Division Commander after General Duff had been wounded in the Po Valley. Darby changed the orders and a special task force consisting of all of K Company and some additional platoons was created with orders tocross the lake at night in order to occupy the villa and the town of Gargnano. We were supplied with large amphibious Duks to make the crossing. Our Platoon was assigned to the first Duk as we crossed the lake. At the appointed time, approximately 1:30 a.m. on April 30,1945, the Duks arrived and we prepared to load for the trip across the lake. The Duks were extremel ynoisy - I'm sure they could be heard all the way across the lake so obviously any surprise was out of the question. I recall thinking that what we were about to do was comparable to going pheasant hunting while riding on a Ford tractor.

After contacting the driver of the Duk and while we were getting everyone loaded, we discovered that the Duk had a .5Ocaliber machine-gun mounted above but near where the driver sat. No one in the platoon had ever fired a .50 caliber machine-gun except myself. My only experience was at OCS at FortBenning, Georgia, where we had fired .50 caliber machine-guns at sleeves or targets that were towed by plane. While we crossed the lake, I manned the machine-gun and was standing near the driver and just to the left ofw here he sat. I felt exposed and would have preferred to have been down in the Duk as we went across.



It was a fairly dark night and we were all quiet as we headed across the lake and neared the west shore. The other Duks were behind usin a staggered formation; we could hear all of them even thought we couldn’t see some of them. Our plan was to land north of Gargnano and then move south and occupy the villa. As our Duk pulled into the shore on the westside, we wanted to unload quickly so the other Duks could come in. We did not know until we started up the bank toward the road that there were some terraces several feet high that had to be negotiated as we moved away and up from the lake. The trip over had been uneventful, not a shot was fired-but I felt that if the Germans were going to shell us they would obviously concentrate on the landing area where the Duks were trying to unload. I urged the men to move-up the terraces and at one point I got rather frustrated when they wouldn't move.I recall cursing at a couple of replacements who didn't seem to want to leave the landing area. After proceeding over several terraces, we finally reached the road and moved to our left toward Gargnano. Although it was dark, an old Italian man on a bicycle approached us (he was lucky he didn't get shot) and we ascertained from him that all of the Germans had left the town earlier that morning. True to what he told us, ween countered no Germans as we approached the village and occupied the villa. Other troops from K Company went on into the town of Gargnano and occupied the villages quare and other government buildings in the town. There was a winding steeproad that came down into Gargnano from the mountain in a series of switchbacks. I took several riflemen and amachine-gun and we walked up several switchbacks to a point considerably higher than the main part of town. We setup a roadblock at that point to protect the town from any Germans that tried to enter from that avenue. Next morning we also discovered that the "unusual fortifications", were concrete supports for lemon trees. The up right portion of the structure was concrete with wooden supports between them to hold up the fruit.

We found that the villa was a very unique two story building and bore considerable evidence that Mussolini had been living there. One room was filled with medicine and pills and looked like a pharmacy. It bore silent testimony to the fact that Mussolini had been a very ill man toward the end of the war. There was a large kitchen and on the second floor a number of bedrooms. I promptly took over a large bedroom (which I assume was the bedroom used by Benito) for platoon headquarters. I believe that every man in the platoon had a bed to sleep in and it was great to have facilities to cook some food such as fish,vegetables and eggs. At a loading dock in front of the villa a beautiful inboard boat had been destroyed and sunk. In a garage behind the villa two large black limousines were also ruined by placing phosphorous grenades on the motors of each. There was also a bomb shelte rwith cemented walls which was dugin to the bank behind the villa.



I have never been able to determine exactly when Mussolini left the villa, but one article I read stated he left the area on April 19 and first went toMilan. He was killed on May 2,1945. We had occupiedt hevilla on April30,1945.



The war ended for us in Italy on May2,1945. We were still living in the villa and continued to stay there for about a week before we we removed to Cividale,a small Italian village north of Udine, for occupational duty.

In 1985, forty years later, I returned to Gargnano looking for Mussolini's "castle” as we called it. The villa, which was and is now·known as The Villa Feltrinelli, is not only still there, but it has been repainted and the upper structure has been slightly changed. It is a beautiful, unique structure and is located on one of the largest of the Lombardy lakes in northern Italy. We were not able to drive down to the villa from the highway due to some large metal gates that blocked both roadways. The gates were equipped with huge padlocks and there were several "nopermission” signs one ach gate. The villa was unoccupied. On checking at the village square, we located a friendly baldheaded Italian, who looked a great deal like Mussolini. He had an extremely small motor boat and agreed to take two of us out into the lake and we went past the villa so we were able to take some photos of it from the lake. Forty years later the villa still had a certain mystique and bought a flood of memories of what had occurred years earlier.



After we visited the villa, I located a card shop in Gargnano and purchased some postcards of the villa. While I was there, I also obtained an original photograph of Mussolini. The photograph shows Benito riding on an old bicycle in the grounds of the villa in 1944. He was dressed in an army uniform in the picture and appears to be quite thin. Since we did not capture him, we have to be content with the realization that we did capture and occupy his last residence. We have some small items such as epaulets from his uniforms, which are sufficient to remind us of what took place over 50years ago. This is a story that is not well-known and perhaps ha not been published earlier, but I feel that it should be told. The First Platoon was proud to have made some real contribution toward shortening the war in the Italian Theatre. We will always remember the night we crossed the lake and occupied the villa. We are thankful that Colonel Darby, who was killed the day before the war ended, cancelled our daylight mission and delayed the crossing until after dark. Iwill always bein debted to him as I believe he saved our lives by cancelling the planned daylight excursion across Lake Garda.





January 26, 1998

1st Lieutenant - Co.K - 85

Eugene S. Hames

http://www.sulleormedeinostripadri.it/e ... olini.html

His obituary: https://missoulian.com/news/local/obitu ... 2ecdb.html

Quoted for posterity:

.


Eugene S. Hames
Nov 29, 2006
DENVER - Eugene S. Hames, 86, of Denver, died Nov. 23, 2006. He was born July 24, 1920, in Philipsburg.

He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed by his wife of 59 years, Rise; his daughter, Kathleen; sons, John and Thomas (Amy); granddaughters, Jordan and Lauren Hames; and one brother, Lee.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Beulah; two brothers, Louie and Dale; two sisters, Doris Monacher and Ruth Frazier.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at Bethany Lutheran Church, 4500 E. Hampden Ave., Denver, with a reception following. Military honors will be at Fort Logan National Cemetery at 1 p.m.

Memorials may be made to the 10th Mountain Division Foundation, 133 S. Van Gordon St., Ste. 200, Lakewood, CO. 80228. Leave condolences at http://www.horanandmcconaty.com.

A picture of the man and his trusty pocket knife attached below. I can't believe I own this knife from a man who served this country with honor and heroism. RIP Eugene you were one of the great ones!

[LongBlade]

Dimitri -That indeed is a simply amazing story and a real treasure of a knife owned by a great American ... Thanks for resurrecting this thread and to all who posted long ago these are all great stories !!! ... I think I may have a few knives that can fit here and will try and pull them together for posting though definitive prior ownership of mine is not exactly clear but suggestive ...

[orvet]

Awesome story Dimitri!
Thanks for sharing it with us.