Trench Knife ? - Any thoughts

[Spud Trevor]

Hello,

I came across the following this weekend at a flea market and having seen nothing like it before decided to buy it. I thought the forum may be interested and have some ideas.

The knife is made from a solid single piece of brass, it weights a hefty 1.5lbs and measures about 12" - its certainly not a letter opener ! The blade is ground with an edge and the handle protrudes beyond the palm making both ends potentially lethal. It sits very comfortably and is also very well balanced in the hand.

Aside from its unusual manufacture, its got a couple of old stamped marks D L I SOMME 1917 - self explanatory, but then its got NOBBY R P 3. I presume Nobby refers to its original owner, but the R P 3 - any ideas ?

I don't know a lot about knives and I'd be interested what people think. I've hopefully attached a couple of pictures.

Regards,

Spud

[phil@basildon]

There seems to be something beneath the nobby r p 3. Either side of the two b's and between the n and the r.

[old-ted]

Just wonder why DLI Somme 1917 would be stamped on it. I can understand a man naming his kit but Arras 1917 may have been more appropriate. having said that it's a nice looking piece that needs a bit of research.

Regars

John

[pmaasz]

I've just been re-reading Robert Graves' 'Goodbye to All That' and was surprised at the several mentions and use of 'Bowie' knives, for all kinds of purposes including killing Germans. Maybe yours has a history... It certainly looks like what I would have called a Bowie when I was a kid.

[PhilB]

Brass would be a most unusual material for a blade?

[certacito79]

QUOTE (Phil_B @ Mar 29 2009, 07:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Brass would be a most unusual material for a blade?

I read "Dominating the enemy" recently by Anthony Saunders and he said the British used more improvised knivesthan any other force, that these were made by either RE or soldiers who had the skills, and that the knives would have used any material that came to hand, brass would be one of them. Plenty of Blacksmith forges around, just an idea to throw in the pot.

John

[PhilB]

Anything`s possible, of course but I don`t recall ever seeing a brass blade on a fighting knife. It doesn`t actually look like brass on the photo though that could be a camera effect?

[truthergw]

I would have thought it hard to keep an edge on brass. It's not bronze or gunmetal, is it?

[Vista52]

Unless you want to slice tomatoes or something, wouldn't a stabbing knife only have to be sharp at the end?

[Spud Trevor]

Hello,

Thanks for the comments, people's thought processes have mirrored my own.

Commenting on the points people have made.

The additional mark around the B of NOBBY is where he had the punch at 90 degrees to where he meant so he's stamped over, the other mark noted is simply a scuffing of the metal.

Its possible the knife is not brass but bronze or similar, its certainly a brassy colour, but is similar to the dull look of an old polished bronze death plaque. Either material also struck me as unusual for a knife. I wondered if the material was dictated by what was available or could be worked. I don't know if a dull bronze / brass colour would be less conspicuous than a shiney steel at night ?

I agree the blade shape is what I think of as a bowie knife, it just seems to me that the end of the handle is shaped a little differently and is designed to protrude beyond the fist in a nasty fashion.

I wondered if your knife was a piece of kit over which a soldier had a bit of control, eg. not officially issued. Its certainly the sort of thing I could imagine you'd show your mates proudly. I work in engineering and I was impressed, its a well made bit of kit.

Thanks also for the references to follow up.

Spud