Item Description
Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. Frank Christian Thomsen Jr. appears on the marine raider association official roster at this link. According to his service record he participated in the following battles: New Georgia Island, B.S.I. Bougainville, B.S.I. Guam, Marianas Islands, Okinawa Island. He was wounded in July 1943 at New Georgia and during Battle of Okinawa on April 14th, 1945.
Included in this collection that was acquired together are the following pieces:
- Original Honorable Discharge dated October 1945 (with other original documents).
- Original Purple Heart with Gold Star along with original 1946 dated letter from the USMC explaining the all awards to which he is entitled.
- Original U.S. WWII USMC Marine Raider Stiletto Dagger by Camillus with M6 Sheath.
- Original U.S. WWI Model 1918 Mark I Trench Knife by AU LION with Leather Scabbard
- Original U.S. WWII USMC Mark 2 KA-BAR Fighting Knife With Leather Sheath
- Original U.S. WWII Zippo Lighter with initials FCT (Frank Christian Thomsen) carved into each side.
- Original U.S. WWII Canteen with Infantry Carrier
History of the Marine Raider Stiletto
The history of the U.S. Marine Raider Stiletto began at the Commando Training Centre in Achnacarry, Scotland. The stiletto was patterned after the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, which was in use at the center before the arrival of the Marine Raiders.
The U.S. Marine Raider Stiletto was the first knife in United States Marine Corps history to be designed by a U.S. Marine Corps officer, the then Lieutenant Colonel Clifford H. Shuey, who retired as a brigadier general and was formerly in charge of the Engineer Division at Headquarters Marine Corps. Shuey largely copied the Fairbairn-Sykes pattern, but changed the material specifications of some components (notably the handle) to reduce the need for high-priority strategic materials. These changes would eventually result in durability problems for the Raider stiletto. The knife was designed in 1942 and officially issued on a selective basis to the Marines, with priority to elite units such as the Raiders.
The new knife was manufactured by the Camillus Cutlery Company, with 14,370 knives produced; a relatively small number compared to the 2.5 million M3 fighting knife units issued. In addition to Raider units, it is known that Scout and Sniper companies of the 1st Marine Division were issued the stiletto, and some members of the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion also acquired them, either by barter and trade, or by unofficial requisition from Quartermaster stores.
The Raider stiletto was also issued to the 1st Marine Raider Battalion commanded by Colonel Merritt A. Edson, the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion, and to Marines in the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion commanded by Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson. The Marines of the 1st Raider battalion found the Raider stiletto to be well designed for silent killing, but was of little use for any other purpose, and too frail for general utility tasks. After their first combat, many of the Marines in the 2nd Raider Battalion exchanged their Raider stilettos for general-purpose short machetes (machetes pequeños) and hunting knives. In late 1943 the Raider Stiletto was replaced by the new Marine Corps fighting and utility knife designated 1219C2 (later to become famous as the KA-BAR), a change welcomed by Edson's Marines.
Specifications
The U.S. Marine Raider stiletto was similar to the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife. Both were designed hilt-heavy to lie in the hand so as to reduce the risk of dropping. Both had a tapered, double-edge blade with stiletto-sharp tip and diamond-shaped cross section, sharpened on both cutting edges all the way to the oval crossguard. Both had a slender symmetrical grip, with a middle convexity. They weighed the same 0.5 pounds (0.23 kg). The primary difference was that the U.S. Marine Raider stiletto hilt was a one-piece construction, die-cast directly onto the blade tang.
The stiletto hilt was die-cast using zinc aluminum alloy, which exhibited the desirable characteristics of sharp casting, low shrinkage, low cost, and minimal use of scarce war-priority metals. However, over time it was discovered that the zinc ions in this alloy tended to leach out, leaving the casting extremely brittle. As a result, more than half of the few Raider stilettos still in existence today have very fine hilt cracks or entire portions of the hilt missing, with pieces having simply flaked off; many more have replacement handles. This decay can be delayed to some extent by coating the hilt with petroleum jelly.
The stiletto blade was approximately 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) longer than the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife and considerably thinner. It is believed that thinner design was a manufacturing compromise, rather than an attempt to increase the effectiveness of the blade.
Manufacturing
The Marine Raider stiletto blade was "blanked" or stamped out of steel sheet stock. Had a thicker sheet metal gauge been used, it would have been more costly. In addition, it would have required more steel, a commodity which had to be conserved during the war. The flat knife blank was then machined to the diamond cross section. By comparison the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife was more expensive to make, but stronger. It was drop-forged to shape, a process which strengthens the steel, then hand-ground to final finish.
Sheath
Within the same basic model, four different variants of the Marine Raider sheath have been noted and identified. These variants include the four combinations of with and without steel staples at the throat portion of the sheath and with and without steel tip plates (1.75 in by 2 in), front and back of the sheath to prevent the sharp tip from piercing the scabbard and injuring the wearer.
The purpose of the row of staples at the throat was to prevent the sharp knife from slashing through the sheath. Unfortunately, these staples could severely scar the stiletto blade. It is believed that these sheath variants evolved by trial and error, as the late issues had both staples and plates.
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