WWII Aussie Made Army Knives/BAKs

[MultiMat]

Today I got 2 much wanted Aussie made knives. I have been wanting a Whittingslowe BAK(British Army Knife style) for quite some time. Whittingslowe was a firm that made BAKs for, predominately the Aussie armed services during WWII. Whittingslowe BAKs were apparently also issued to Commonwealth & US services during WWII. The cool thing is Whittingslowe was based in Adelaide, my adopted home town.

The second Aussie BAK is a Sterling brand one , I have only ever seen one other for sale , in Oz Ebay & it went for a $100 & was in rough nick.I have not been able to find out anything about Sterling knives Australia. To get 2 rare Aussie made Army knives from the same seller is tops & the seller was a US Ebay knife seller 


At top my 1977 issued Stanley Rogers Aussie Army Knife(made in Japan), middle Sterling Aussie made Army knife ?WWII vintage & at bottom Aussie made Whittingslowe WWII issue.


Sterling at top ,Whittingslowe middle & 1977 Stanley Rogers at bottom


Marlin spike also known as 'Pig sticker'  .Sterling at top , Whittingslowe middle & Stanley Rogers bottom.


Sterling top , Whittingslowe middle & Stanley Rogers bottom.

Interestingly Whittingslowe supplied army knives to the Australian Government at cost as part of the war effort. Ironically the firm went bust soon after WWII & knife suppliers to the Australian Army  have subsequently come from Japan(like my 1977 Stanley Rogers) & the current supplier is Black Wolf knives a Chinese company. The knife has changed very little over the years , the blade almost the same , the can opener has changed the most & the Marlin spike is less meaty .

The Sterling is in GREAT nick  , the Whittingslowe is fairly badly pitted in places  but for a 70+year old knife I am chuffed  . I am so happy to have these 2 Aussie made knives 
In military knife tradition the back springs are VERY stiff, just like the US Camillus Demo knives 

[yud]

thats neat

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Awesome line up there Matt

[Zed]

vey nice, i had the British equivalent for years in my old tool bag, now long gone  , 

[Neil]

Nice to see you finally got some Aussie nail breakers

[Sparky415]

A nice collection and pictures there Mat!
After picking up one last week I can now see the attraction in them
Think I will keep an eye out for some more in the future 

[DaveK]

Very nice Mat

[J-sews]

Very sweet! I love the oldies, especially when they've got some military background to them.


So maybe we discussed this before... ....but what does the little upwards-pointing arrow symbol mean again? I've seen it on the Australian military SwissTools and the NATO Leatherman Cores also.

[Spork, Lord of Lime Jello!]

This way up?

Nice collection MultiMat.

[Sparky415]

Very sweet! I love the oldies, especially when they've got some military background to them.


So maybe we discussed this before... ....but what does the little upwards-pointing arrow symbol mean again? I've seen it on the Australian military SwissTools and the NATO Leatherman Cores also.

Typically it is stamped on property of the MOD  Ministry of Defence,
look in the link below 'Use for British Government property' 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

 
 

[Dutchy357]

Hi Mat

They are a couple of very nice Clasp Knives.

That Sterling is Brilliant.  It's even better than the one I have in my collection and I thought that was good.

If you dont mind, I would like to use some Pic's of it on my web page about Australian Military Knives.  http://military-knives.110mb.com/index.htm

Regards

[MultiMat]

Hi Mat

They are a couple of very nice Clasp Knives.

That Sterling is Brilliant.  It's even better than the one I have in my collection and I thought that was good.

If you dont mind, I would like to use some Pic's of it on my web page about Australian Military Knives.  http://military-knives.110mb.com/index.htm

Regards

Gosh Dutchy  yep feel free to use my pics if you like mate  .
Great web page you have mate  .
My Sterling looks better than it is (floppy back spring & consequently loose locking blade ). But given it is the second Sterling I have seen I am still very much the proud owner 

[J-sews]

Hi Mat

They are a couple of very nice Clasp Knives.

That Sterling is Brilliant.  It's even better than the one I have in my collection and I thought that was good.

If you dont mind, I would like to use some Pic's of it on my web page about Australian Military Knives.  http://military-knives.110mb.com/index.htm

Regards

Greetings Dutchy


By the way, I love your Classic Quotes page: LINK

[65bellett]

Hi Mat they are some really nice knives you have there. I can remember my Grandfather carrying a knife just like that when I was a kid. For some reason I always thought it was a Boatswains knife as he was a keen sailer but it could well have been some thing he kept from his time in the British Army during WW2. I must ring my Mum and ask her if she knows any of it's history.

By the way it is great to see an Australian made knife, I will have to keep my eyes open for one myself. 

[MultiMat]

Hi Mat they are some really nice knives you have there. I can remember my Grandfather carrying a knife just like that when I was a kid. For some reason I always thought it was a Boatswains knife as he was a keen sailer but it could well have been some thing he kept from his time in the British Army during WW2. I must ring my Mum and ask her if she knows any of it's history.

By the way it is great to see an Australian made knife, I will have to keep my eyes open for one myself. 

Thanks mate 

I reckon your Grandfather's knife could well be a BAK(British Army Knife) if he served in the British Army. You are right about this style of knife showing a definite maritime influence with the Marlin spike. I suspect these style of knives were being used by the British Navy first & were then adopted by the army  . I would be interested in seeing photos of the knife if you still have access too it mate  .


Sterling knives are bloody hens teeth mate but made in Adelaide Whittingslowe knives are a bit more common , they come up on Oz Ebay every couple of months, they are going for a bit now though.It is a bit funny I got my Aussie made BAK's from US Ebay 


Dutchy357's website is a great resource for Aussie military knives-----> http://military-knives.110mb.com/index.htm


   

[Dunc]

OOOoooohhhhhhh I like those    thanks for sharing 

[65bellett]

Well I did some chasing and asking around about my Grandfathers BAK and apparently it was an original item from his days in the service. My Mum was telling me that my old Granddad told her stories when she was a kid about how he used the spike to detect land mines (not sure if it was true, he did like telling a tall tale ).

The sad part of the story is that he gave the knife to my cousin who had it stolen out of his fishing tackle box that was in the back of his ute ggggrrrrrr. I hope it has made it's way back to some body that appreciates it for what it is.

[Jack Russell]

We were instructed to probe beneath the surface of sand and soil for anti tank mines with pigsticker type bayonets when I did my National service so its most probably true.

Mike

[ausjulius]

its gonna have to be a crazy solider and a mine  that has been put far to close to the surface, these things are only 3 inches ,
they are marlin spikes  for undoing rope knots.
the spike bayonet was indeed conceived as a mine probe, in conjunction with the entrenching tool handle,

[u2eZ]

My grandmother recently gave me my late grandfathers WE army knife. It is a 1930s model with the original can opener.

Story from this past weekend:

Anyways, on the flight back I accidentally left it in my carry-on bag and took it through security. The security guys found it and made a fuss, I guess the old rusted thing looked menacing to them, especially with that marlin spike (they would not know what it is for).

So I was escorted back out to the check-in lobby and had to make a tough decision. Had 15 minutes to catch my flight and no way to check the knife in or mail it to myself.

Long story short, ended up out on the street and gave it to an honest-looking taxi driver along with a mailing address and $20 (mailing is $3.00, so $17 for being a good guy). Shook his hand, got his name and told him it belonged to my grandfather.

I hope to receive it in the mail in a few days

If I do receive it, I'm going to mail him an extra $20 as a christmas present.

This old relic is worth FAR more than $40 to me. Would have missed my flight to keep it safe even, but I had obligations that I could not miss back home.

It has seen combat in WW2, in an artillery unit. Would hate for it to finally be torn from the family after 75 years due to our overzealous airport clerks and a mental blunder on my part.

edit: from the first pic in the original post, it closely resembles the third one. It is marked with the WE of Wittingslowe Engineering, however the can opener is an older style (crab claw). It also has the military-issue 'crows foot' marking at the base of the can opener.

[Reinier]

That's quite a story! 
I hope that taxi driver is an honest man...

[Neil]

   Scary story.  Please keep us informed.

You should be OK.  Most people are honest

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Best of luck mate

[Dunc]

  Scary story.  Please keep us informed.

You should be OK.  Most people are honest

Yes please tell us the outcome .

[Sparky415]

Fingers crossed here for a good outcome 

[u2eZ]

Will certainly keep you informed. It is domestic mailing, so probably at most a week for shipping, once he mails it.

Will snap some pics when it arrives, some before a clean/polish/oil, and some after.

Thinking about engraving my grandfathers name on it as well.

Got my fingers crossed too!

thank you

edit:

factoid - when we discovered it, it was lying in an old toolbox in the basement since the 60s. Aside from the usual scuff marks and wear&tear, it is in good condition. everything locks tight and nothing is loose. It will likely be the only drawer king in my stash. Definitely not a user tool, seeing as its lifetime warranty has expired three times over now

[MultiMat]

My grandmother recently gave me my late grandfathers WE army knife. It is a 1930s model with the original can opener.

Story from this past weekend:

Anyways, on the flight back I accidentally left it in my carry-on bag and took it through security. The security guys found it and made a fuss, I guess the old rusted thing looked menacing to them, especially with that marlin spike (they would not know what it is for).

So I was escorted back out to the check-in lobby and had to make a tough decision. Had 15 minutes to catch my flight and no way to check the knife in or mail it to myself.

Long story short, ended up out on the street and gave it to an honest-looking taxi driver along with a mailing address and $20 (mailing is $3.00, so $17 for being a good guy). Shook his hand, got his name and told him it belonged to my grandfather.

I hope to receive it in the mail in a few days

If I do receive it, I'm going to mail him an extra $20 as a christmas present.

This old relic is worth FAR more than $40 to me. Would have missed my flight to keep it safe even, but I had obligations that I could not miss back home.

It has seen combat in WW2, in an artillery unit. Would hate for it to finally be torn from the family after 75 years due to our overzealous airport clerks and a mental blunder on my part.

edit: from the first pic in the original post, it closely resembles the third one. It is marked with the WE of Wittingslowe Engineering, however the can opener is an older style (crab claw). It also has the military-issue 'crows foot' marking at the base of the can opener.

Mate I sure hope you get your grandfather's knife back, I would be gutted to loose something like that. My grand father served in France during WWI , apparently he was the ring leader of a group of Diggers(aussie soldiers) that 'borrowed'  a tram in Paris  . I was a baby when he died, I sure wish I could of got too know him  .

u2eZ I have come across 3 different Whittingslowe army issue clasp knives(trying too not call them BAK's  ). Maybe I should call them AAK's(Aussie Army Knife)  .

1'st one;

2'nd one;

3'rd one with minimal manufacturing markings


I think the 3'rd one might be the same as yours  , here are some more pics ;




You can just make out the WE & Arrow head on the can opener.

When you get yours back(fingers crossed) we need pics