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Remembered Today:

Wire Cutter WW1 or WW2?


133.R

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I can get this wire cutter. But i´m not sure how old he is. I know the same was used in ww2. Can anybody say how old is the wire cutter made by E.T.F. LTD. ? I dont know more about the pouch ( markings).

Best regards Sven

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I can get this wire cutter. But i´m not sure how old he is. I know the same was used in ww2. Can anybody say how old is the wire cutter made by E.T.F. LTD. ? I dont know more about the pouch ( markings).

Best regards Sven

Hello, Sven - Both the wire cutters and web carrier look like WWII issue to me. If you want a WWI example of this type of wire cutters, I suggest passing on these and waiting for a WWI-dated example coming available. I see them regularly on auction sites and I also have seen them at arms fairs in France. This type of wire cutters is relatively common and is not expensive. Regards, Torrey

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I can't recall seeing an earlier date on the frogs, not sure about the cutters though Paul.

I have a heavily used and now incredibly faintly dated 1916 pair, and have seen a few others with the 1916 date.

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This is Cutter, wire, folding (Mark I), introduced by LoC para. 20646, accepted 1st December 1916. The frog is the Frog, cutter, wire, folding, LoC para. 20641, accepted 26th April 1917. I have occasionally seen cutters dated 1916, but I've never seen a frog earlier than 1917. Your frog is, I believe, WWII vintage, based on the style of brass loop at the rear (a carry-over from the earlier design in leather, and originally used to tie the frog to your saddle). WWI era frogs had a stamped brass loop, not the formed wire one. I can also confirm that both the cutter and its frog were used in the First Gulf War - I saw them there in Saudi Arabia in 1991. The latest date I've seen on a frog was 1990, and by then the saddle loop had become black painted steel.

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Hello,

My local TA centre has similar wire cutters in stores!

Owain.

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