Original Item: One of a Kind. This is a phenomenal example of one of the scarcest World War II Knuckle knives ever produced; a 9-Point Guard example manufactured during World War II by Marion Howard Cole. This is the exact model knife described and pictured in Bill Walter’s excellent resource book;  U.S. AND ALLIED MILITARY KNIVES WORLD WAR II pages 30-32.

The Holy Grail of Fighting Knives (Season 23) | Pawn Stars

Cole made approximately 300 knives between 1942-1944. He made only roughly 50 of this earliest first pattern 9-point knuckle knife. The later knives were 8-point knives.

This is an outstanding 9-point example named and identified to Private Harry Carlton Watkins, 88th Chemical Mortar Battalion. Watkins’ serial number, 34813430, is stamped on both sides of the crossguard and both sides of the knuckles. The sheath is carved with his initials, HW.

The knife sports a 7 ¾” double-sided blade, with a large heavy brass knuckle guard with 9 knuckles or “spikes”. The wood of the grip is in great shape with the blade showing scattered oxidation spotting. The overall length is 12 ⅜”.

The custom leather sheath is similar to a Ka-Bar sheath and shows heavy wear to the leather. The leather of the securing strap is broken, with both sides of the snap now on one side. The original heavily braided leg-tie-down is in good shape, made from shoelaces and “cubed”. 

A very nice identified theater-made knife, to a soldier in a very battle-torn battalion.

This quote came from the previous owner of the knife:

“Grandad, H.C Watkins, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and must of had contact with M.H. Cole prior to his deployment. I only learned of this knife and its maker after watching an episode of Pawn Stars when Mr Cranmer provided the backstory of the knife. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the episode because I said to myself, hey that's grandad's army knife. I've got that!

My dad gave the knife to me about 20 years ago and it's been in my possession since then. Grandad stamped the knife with his military ID number, 34813430. He stamped the knife probably so it didn't grow legs. Grandad labeled everything. Grandad also carved his initials on the sheath, "HW".  The sheath is missing the bottom portion of the snap button that secures the knife.

The blade is strait and in good condition but there is some pitting in the blade. The handle is in good condition as well. I have not altered the knife or had the blade sharpened.  My dad held onto this knife since he was in his early 20s. He is 79 as of now. I'm 56 years old. Both my father and I are retired police officers.

Grandad passed away about fifteen years ago in Columbia, Alabama. He was eighty seven or eighty eight. He knew alot of people and was well liked, so it's not surprising he ended up with this knife and met up with M.H. Cole prior to him being shipped overseas.”

There is probably no custom maker of military pattern knives more famous than MH “Howard” Cole. His fame in the collector community stems not only from his skill as a knife maker but also by his exhaustive efforts to document the edged weapons that he loved through his drawings and writings. No serious collector of US military knives does not have Cole’s famous four volume set US Military Knives, Bayonets & Machetes in their arms library, or at the very least a copy of the compilation of these books, published as The Best of US Military Knives: Bayonets & Machetes which took most of the important information from the original four volumes and put it all under one cover, with the assistance of edged weapons authority and author Michael Silvey. Cole followed up his original works on military knives with The Skinning Knife Book, which he published in 1996.

Marion Howard Cole (1911-1999) was a Birmingham, AL police officer during World War II and produced custom knives in his spare time for men serving in the armed forces. His premier knife was a large knuckle knife with blades made of spring steel and brass knuckle guards cast by a local foundry. Initially these knives were produced with nine-point knuckle bow, but after fifty to seventy-five knives were produced, he redesigned the knife with an eight-point guard. Most of Cole’s WWII era production were made without scabbards, but he did acquire some scabbards from Birmingham’s Blackhorse Leather Works at a cost of $0.75 each. According to Silvey, after the company went out of business, Cole acquired some of the firm’s tools so that he could continue to produce scabbards as needed that were of the same style as his World War II scabbards. Cole was more than just a police officer, detective, custom knife maker and author, he was devotee to historical arms of all types and was one of the founding members of the Alabama Gun Collectors Association and served as their president at the end of the 1950s. Cole continued making knives through the early 1990s and died in June of 1999 at the age of 87.

From his obituary:

WATKINS, HARRY CARLTON, born October 24, 1917 in Homewood, Alabama passed away on April 23, 2006. Harry was a member of one of the founding pioneer families of the Shades Valley area, in particular, the Homewood and Mountain Brook areas. Harry was our family historian. He was inducted into the service on July 31, 1943 and discharged on January 11, 1946. He was attached to the 88th Mortar Battalion and served in the West Pacific, the Southern Philippines, Okinawa, Saipan and New Hebrides. He received the APTO Medal, the Philippine liberation ribbon with bronze star, good conduct medal and the World War II Victory medal.

Ready for display!

Dimensions:
Blade length: 7 3/4”
Overall length: 12 1/2”
Scabbard length: 8 1/2" + 5” belt loop - 13½”
Grip: 4 ⅝ x 4 ¼”

The first 18 months after beginning basic training in September, 1943, members of the unit had an average of 18,000 air miles behind them, or approximately 1,000 miles per month. If the roundabout routes of convoys were figured in, the total mileage would be far in excess of those figures. During its normal existence, the battalion has had quite considerable combat plus some weird experiences.

The 88th received its baptism of fire in the Mariannas - on Saipan in June and July, and Guam in July and August of 1944. September found the battalion present on both Auguar and Peleliu. In October, General MacArthur returned to the Philippines accompanied by - you guess it - the 88th! When a task force landed in December at Ormoc on Leyte in the move that polished off the Nip's organized resistance on the island, part of the assault troops were from the 88th. In February, 1945, the battalion had a rest - that is, if building a camp, reorganizing from four companies to three and getting ready for another operation could be called a rest.

In March it was "march order" again. This time against the Kerama Retto and IE-Shima. Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, the 88th splashed ashore with the assault troops on Okinawa, "a stone's throw from Tokyo." From L-Day until the island was declared secure, the battalion stayed in the line continuously. Overseas points visited by units of the battalion include Oahu, Maui, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Ulithi, Saipan, Guam, New Hebrides, Guadalcanal, Oro Bay, Finchhafen, Hollandia, the Admiralties, Leyte, Luzon, Anguar, Peleliu, IE-Shima, the Kerama Retto and Okinawa.

During this time the average man in the battalion piled up a total of 150 days of actual combat. This does not include days spent aboard ship in dangerous waters under air and submarine attack, or days spent in combat zones with snipers around and fighting only a few miles distant. Divisions supported include the 7th, 27th, 77th, 81st, 96th, and the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions.

Variety is the only word to describe the methods of transportation used by the 88th while in the Pacific, as everything from airplanes to carabao was utilized for moving individuals and supplies. The battalion was trained with the jeep as the main organic transportation, and everything but the jeep has been basic transportation. In the Mariannas it was on foot, in the Palau Group it was 1-ton trucks, in the Philippines it was Weasels, DUKWs and carabao, while in the Ryukus it was horses, 2-ton trucks and boats, plus the good old reliable feet.

While the Jap, his weapons and supplies were the main target of the battalion, a wide number of ways were used to get at them. In the Palau Group, gunboats were employed with the mortars mounted on the side of LCIs. On Saipan, WP shells silhouetted Nips for machine gunners after riflemen had run out of flares and the Japs were too close to bring supporting fires to bear. On Leyte, WP was utilized to help locate combat patrols which had gotten lost in unmapped territory. After seeing the WP round, the patrols were radioed directions which led them back to civilization. Both WP and HE were employed on Peleliu and Okinawa to ignite jellied gasoline after the target had been marked for the planes with WP. The 4.2 mortar has a reputation for accuracy of an unusual degree, and the 88th did much to enhance that rep in the Pacific.

On Leyte, the 77th Infantry Division was held up by a church which the Nips converted into a fortress. The building was made of stone, and high velocity and direct fire weapons did little damage other than knocking off the top of the steeple, leaving an opening leading down into the church. The 4.2s were called on to drop WP down the hole to roust the Nips out. The mission was accomplished with 30 out of 50 rounds being dropped inside the strong point. The Japs were easy targets when they popped out.

The 88th claims to bt the only battalion to use the 4.2 as a coastal defense gun. In the Philippines, a landing craft loaded with 300 to 500 Nips was seen trying to make a landing behind our lines. The mortars were faced out to sea and registered on a narrow channel through which the barge had to pass through the reef. When it penetrated the area, a shower of HE and WP rained down upon it, forcing the Japs to abandon ship. Those not killed in the mortar fire were picked off easily.

On Okinawa, one battery was registered on a machine gun at the mouth of a cave. The observer had called for "fire for effect" and had given "on the way" when several Nips were seen running towards the cave. Turning to the observer, the rifle battalion commander yelled, "Get some fire on them." Friendly machine guns already had swung around and, just as the Nips dived into cave, the 4.2 shells and tracers went in after them, in that order.