Japanese Bayonet with Arm Bone as grip

[NBolinger]

Picked this up a while ago and wanted to post, I was told is a Japanese bayonet blade and was brought home by a Marine after the war.

[NBolinger]

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[NBolinger]

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[oldhonda]

This is another example of nothing on it is Japanese, but passed as Japanese. The bayonet looks like British origin.

Nowadays, when people buying these things, or anything, they take pictures and post them on forums first.

[blinky]

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean Japanese made

[oldhonda]

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean Japanese made

I don't read between the lines. Whatever he meant, this knife is as much as Japanese as the guy from India I talked on phone.

[Milton]

IMHO, the blade contours seem more akin to a P17 Enfield bayonet...

[oldhonda]

To elaborate my comments, the bayonet blade used as the basis for this knife is not Japanese. It looks like British bayonet of so sort. You could argue it being Russian or Chinese, or even American (Model 1917. Hello!). I'm sure it's not Japanese.

The use of bone for knife handle is not normally found in Japanese knives.

The S shape handguard is not in the Japanese tradition.

That's three strikes.

[rajko84]

So is this arm bone?

[Paul G]

I believe the post is referring to a Japanese soldiers arm bone being used as a handle in a theater made knife. Not Japanese made, but made by allied personal and brought home by a returning US Marine.

PG-

[oldhonda]

The title is "Japanese Bayonet with Arm Bone as grip".

The body is "...., I was told is a Japanese bayonet blade and was brought home by a Marine after the war. "

Twice he mentioned "Japanese bayonet". I want to point out the knife blade is not from a salvaged Japanese bayonet. So you think the arm bone is Japanese? That doesn't make an otherwise who-knows-what knife a "Japanese bayonet knife". Think about it. If you use a dog bone for handle, does it make the knife become a dog knife? Of course not.

[blinky]

[oldhonda]

Don't laugh, there's a learning curve for all of us. These days we can take pictures and post them online for questions before making a purchase or bidding. Awhile ago, (that's a long while ago) they were simply not possible.

[p-59a]

Don't laugh, there's a learning curve for all of us. These days we can't take pictures and post them online for questions before making a purchase or bidding. Awhile ago, (that's a long while ago) these things were simply not possible.

I agree with oldhonda on this. This is the other side of "trench art". A field modification of an issued item. The shoulder bone looks real, have any one in the medical field look at it and I am sure they will tell you so. As to who made it, one of the allies makes sense to me. A Brit, American or Russian...depends on who made the blade, That would most likely be the nationality of who made it. As to who's shoulder bone it is, a DNA test would confirm that persons nationality. This represents the darker side of war. I do not judge those who did this. I wasn't there and I have no right to condone or condemn the rational behind this. It is what it is. War is brutal, we need to remember that.

[blinky]

I'm laughing at how worked up you got over the wording the poster used. It would have been just as easy to say "it's not a Japanese blade, perhaps it's British. Considering the Australians and US fought together in the Pacific it could have been a souvenir from an Army veteran in New Guinea?" Instead you come across as an old guy with an unsuccessful morning stool.