New user here... I have some knives that were given to my by my brother, likely from my grandfather. The bayonet has 3 N 40033 and what looks like 'Franch' on it. Any idea on where/when these might have originated? Thanks for any help!
Thank you for the welcome and for the information on the bayonet. I'm now wondering if this may have belonged to my uncle who was with the 1st Special Service Force (aka Devil's Brigade). On the longer dagger, I'm now seeing some lettering on both sides of the blade... I can make out 'pero sabroso' on one side and 'y viva luutla' on the other - although some of the writing is worn away...
The dagger to the far right is a Fairbairn Sykes dagger of some kind, not quite sure about the others. I would go with the story that they must have belonged to your uncle in the Devil's Brigade.
Thank you all for responding... so grateful to know what these are. I was having no success in my online search until now. I'll keep researching the smallest knife. It says Kinsfolk USA, and has a 3 digit number on the other side. All the best! Sandy
Kinsfolk make a lot of different patterns, yours seems similar to a 333 hunter; Kinfolks Incorporated - Knives of Quality and Distinction
I'm not convinced that the knife on the right of the picture is a mass produced FS knife. Looks home made to me - quite possibly inspired by the FS design. Regards Richie
Vintage Kinsfolk Girl Scouts Knife Etched Blade RARE - eBay (item 260681826654 end time Oct-29-10 18:42:41 PDT)
I agree with Richie. My immediate reaction was 'F-S knife' but a closer look reveals that no detailing from 1st, 2nd or 3rd pattern knives are present, even thouh the overall look is very similar.
Hi Sandy, a very interesting Fairbrain sykes type knife, does it have a wooden handle?? Its not the more common 1st, 2nd or 3rd pattern type which were made all around the commonwealth, are there any markings on the knife? The cross guard is a 3rd pattern type and the blade looks like a reground bayonet blade. How thick is the cross guard? (ww2 types were thicker than later types) The skull cracker is also unusual does it screw on or is it fixed? Do you also have the sheath? It may sound like a lot of questions but it all helps to identify the origin
I think it is a Hill Knife rather than an F-S. can't find an exact match for the hilt yet but the blade seems to fit Hill.
Hi Nigel, check out this website Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knife First Pattern As I said earlier ther are lots of variante of this knife yours included I will post some pohotgraphs of my colection soon
still think Natensandy's looks more like the Hill than an F-S - the blade doesn't fit any of the F-S photos i've found before or on your link. if it's a real one of either though would expect some markings somewhere, even if only on tang
Hi again, I had a go at translating the writing on the knife (Google) 'But delicious and live luutla' This is in Spanish, the plot thickens, maybe Spanish civil war?? Another question now what’s its total length??, relooking a the photo it looks quite long again I would like to see some better photogaphs of the knife
i can't get anything from 'Luutla' either - it could be y viva la .... which would be 'and experience the ....' hope Naten comes back with more
Sorry for my absence... back now to answer some questions - thank you for your interest and help! To add detail... these belong to the bayonet.
there is an Italian Toolsmith and Gunsmith called 'Franchi' - could be where it originates; Franchi Armi : Home http://www.toolbank.com/41/r they neither seem to make that kind of knife anymore, but you may get lucky with an enquiry. they also operate these days in the UK and US and probably a few more - not sure if that's recent or if they were international years back.