Item Description
This knife is early production, indicated by the maker information being stamped directly on the blade: U S M3- UTICA. This is the second version of the knife, as the first all had the date "1943" after the maker. The later version moved the markings to the cross guard. The 6 1/2 inch spear point blade is in very good used condition, with a good amount of the original finish. The blade is somewhat sharp, and could easily be sharpened further. It does not have any major issues or damage. The handle and stacked leather grip are in great shape, with a lovely color, no cracking, and a nice shined slightly rounded look. There are no major cracks, and the leather is still soft.
The original scabbard is in good condition. It has a lovely aged leather look. it is marked in faint ink on the reverse WALT K-9937 (which is the soldier's first letter of his last name and final four digits of his Army Serial Number). The securing strap in tact with working brass snap. This is the original scabbard designed for this knife, which was then replaced with the Fiberglass M8/M8A1 scabbards, which were also used with the M4 bayonet.
A very nice example of an early issue M3 knife from a desirable maker, in an early leather scabbard, with customized 88th Infantry Division insignia on brass plate. This is ready to add to your WWII edged weapon collection!
The 88th Infantry Division was one of the first all-draftee divisions of the United States Army to enter the war. Ordered into active military service at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma, the division, commanded by Major General John E. Sloan, arrived at Casablanca, French Morocco on 15 December 1943, and moved to Magenta, Algeria, on the 28 December for intensive training. Destined to spend the war fighting on the Italian Front, the 88th Division arrived at Naples, Italy on 6 February 1944, and concentrated around Piedimonte d'Alife for combat training. An advance element went into the line before Monte Cassino on 27 February, and the entire division relieved the battered British 46th Infantry Division along the Garigliano River in the Minturno area on 5 March. A period of defensive patrols and training followed. The 88th formed part of Major General Geoffrey Keyes' II Corps, part of the U.S. Fifth Army, under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark.
After being inspected by the Fifth Army commander on 5 May, the 88th Division, six days later, drove north to take Spigno, Mount Civita, Itri, Fondi, and Roccagorga, reached Anzio, 29 May, and pursued the enemy into Rome, being the first unit of the Fifth Army into the city on 4 June, two days before the Normandy landings, after a stiff engagement on the outskirts of the city. An element of the 88th is credited with being first to enter the Eternal City. After continuing across the Tiber to Bassanelio the 88th retired for rest and training, 11 June. The division went into defensive positions near Pomerance on 5 July, and launched an attack toward Volterra on the 8th, taking the town the next day. Laiatico fell on the 11th, Villamagna on the 13th, and the Arno River was crossed on the 20th although the enemy resisted bitterly.
After a period of rest and training, the 88th Division, now commanded by Major General Paul Wilkins Kendall, opened its assault on the Gothic Line on 21 September, and advanced rapidly along the Firenzuola-Imola road, taking Mount Battaglia (Casola Valsenio, RA) on the 28th. The enemy counterattacked savagely and heavy fighting continued on the line toward the Po Valley. The strategic positions of Mount Grande and Farnetto were taken on 20 and 22 October. From 26 October 1944 to 12 January 1945, the 88th entered a period of defensive patrolling in the Mount Grande-Mount Cerrere sector and the Mount Fano area. From 24 January to 2 March 1945, the division defended the Loiano-Livergnano area and after a brief rest returned to the front. The drive to the Po Valley began on 15 April. Monterumici fell on the 17th after an intense artillery barrage and the Po River was crossed on 24 April, as the 88th pursued the enemy toward the Alps. The cities of Verona and Vicenza were captured on the 25th and 28th and the Brenta River was crossed on 30 April. The 88th was driving through the Dolomite Alps toward Innsbruck, Austria where it linked up with the 103rd Infantry Division, part of the U.S. Seventh Army, when the hostilities ended on 2 May 1945.[1] The end of World War II in Europe came six days later. Throughout the war the 88th Infantry Division was in combat for 344 days.
History of the M3 Fighting Knife
The M3 fighting knife or M3 trench knife was an American military combat knife first issued in March 1943. The M3 was originally designated for issue to soldiers not otherwise equipped with a bayonet. However, it was particularly designed for use by elite or 'shock' forces in need of a close-combat knife such as airborne troops and Army Rangers, and these units received priority for the M3 at the start of production. As more M3 knives became available in 1943 and 1944, the knife was issued to other soldiers such as Army Air Corps crewmen and soldiers not otherwise equipped with a bayonet, including soldiers issued the M1 Carbine or submachine gun.
The M3 was manufactured by a number of U.S. knife and cutlery manufacturers during the war. Manufacturers known to have made the M3 under wartime contract include the Aerial Cutlery Co., W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., Imperial Knife Co., PAL Cutlery Co., Camillus Cutlery Co., Robeson (ShurEdge) Cutlery Co., Kinfolks Inc., Utica Cutlery Co., and H. Boker & Co.
The M3 was developed as a replacement for the World War I-era U.S. Mark I trench knife, primarily to conserve strategic metal resources. The prototype for what would become the M3 was evaluated in December 1942 by the civilian board of directors of the Smaller War Plants Corporation Board (SWPC) against another competing design, the US Marine Corps' 1219C2 fighting utility knife. However, while the specified priority steel supplies for both knives were available, the M3's lower production cost compared to that of the 1219C2 convinced the SWPC board of directors to approve the M3 prototype for quantity production.
Though the M3 had competed with the USMC 1219C2 for approval by the Army, the M3, unlike the Marine Corps knife, was not a dual-purpose weapon designed for both close combat (fighting knife) and general use (utility knife). As the U.S. Catalog of Standard Ordnance Items of 1943 clearly explained:
The Trench Knife M3 has been developed to fill the need in modern warfare for hand-to-hand fighting. While designated for issue to soldiers not armed with the bayonet, it was especially designed for such shock units as parachute troops and rangers.
The M3 was first issued to U.S. Army soldiers in March 1943, with the first knives going to elite units such as airborne troops and the U.S. Army Rangers. Despite ordnance descriptions of the knife as being designed for hand-to-hand warfare, the M3 did not receive universal praise as a close-quarters fighting knife upon issue to combat units. While the knife itself was generally well-made and balanced (some paratroopers and rangers mastered the art of using the M3 as a throwing knife), the long narrow dagger-like steel blade, designed to economize on priority steel requirements, was best used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon, and performed less well when used for slashing strokes. Reports of blade failures on M3s in service increased as soldiers began to use their trench knives for ordinary utility tasks such as opening ammo crates and food ration tins, a role for which the M3 had not been designed. Some soldiers also found the M3's cutting edge to be difficult to maintain in the field. As issued, the blade's secondary or false edge was intentionally sharpened and beveled for only a portion of its length, leaving an unsharpened spine on the top of the blade in an effort to stiffen the relatively narrow blade. This limited the usefulness of the M3 when employed for backhand slashing strokes.
The M3 replaced the OSS dagger in service in 1944.
After U.S. Army ordnance began developing a proprietary bayonet for use on the M1 carbine, it was realized that the new carbine bayonet, which already incorporated the M3 blade design and leather-wrap grip, could also replace the M3 in service in a secondary role as a fighting knife. The carbine bayonet, now designated the Bayonet, U.S. M4, was added to the Company Table of Organization in June 1944, and the M3 was declared to be a limited standard ordnance item, with supplies to be issued until exhausted. Nevertheless the final M3 production run did not take place until August 1944, by which time 2,590,247 M3 trench knives had been produced.
At termination of production in August 1944, the M3 trench knife had one of the shortest production and service records of any U.S. combat knife. However, the M3's blade design continued in U.S. military service in the form of the U.S. M4, M5, M6, and M7 bayonets.
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