Original Item: Only One Available. At the start of WWII there was a shortage of fighting knives, so the US government did everything they could to fill the void. They purchased massive stocks of hunting knives from civilian markets and they also converted old stock to make fighting knives. That was the case with this knife. It was originally an M1913 Patton saber, made in 1918 by private contractor Landers, Frary & Clark (L.F. & C.) of New Britain, CT., who also made the 1917 and Mark 1 pattern "Trench" knuckle knives. This example is marked on the ricasso with:
U.S.
(Eagle)
NO12
and on the reverse with:
L.F. & C.
(Flaming Bomb)
1918
Many times they would cut the sword into three pieces and make three separate knives. This particular knife was made using the lower marked section of the blade and grip assembly. The guard was removed just leaving the original grip assembly. The blade is in very good condition with almost no pitting present on the blade. This is an excellent opportunity to get a rare and desirable knife that saw service through two wars!
During the first couple years of WW2, U.S. servicemen had no standard-issue fighting knife and the military was desperately looking for a quick way to satisfy the demand for them. Someone came up with the fantastic idea of repurposing these old (and by then obsolete weapons) info fighting knives and daggers. A large quantity of Patton Swords and even older Civil War sabers, were converted into somewhat crude, but very practical fighting knives and trench daggers. Each M1913 saber was made into 3 fighting knives with the “hilt part” fighting knives being scarcer than the rest.
Measurements:
Blade Length: 8 inches
Blade Width: 1 inch
Handle Length: 6 inches
Handle Width: 1 inch
