Description
USA WW2 Anderson fighting knife made from from the the hilt section of WW1 era 1918 LF&C Patton Sword (M1913 Cavalry Saber), original cool-looking “theater-made” leather scabbard included. VERY rare type in excellent overall condition, considering the age.
Very rare WW2 era fighting dagger made during the war by ANDERSON in Glendale, California. The dagger was made from the end hilt section of WW1 era M1913 Cavalry Saber, typically referred to as the “Patton Sword”, which was originally manufactured in 1918 by Landers, Frary & Clark (LF&C) in New Britain, Connecticut. The original M1913 Calvary saber was developed by the now-famous General Patton prior to WW1. The sword was an excellent weapon but it was rendered completely useless by the advances in modern warfare by the time the United States has actually entered WW1. After the Great War ended most of the M1913 sabers ended up collecting dust in the government arsenals.
During the first couple of years of WW2 the US servicemen had no standard-issue fighting knife and the military was desperately looking for a quick way to satisfy the demand for the much-needed fighting knives early in the War. So someone came up with the idea of re-purposing these old (and by than obsolete weapons anyway) info fighting knives and daggers. A large quantity of Patton Swords and even older Civil War sabers were converted into somewhat crude, but very practical fighting knives and trench daggers. Each M1913 saber was made into 3 fighting knives; the hit section fighters are the hardest to find. Because so many Patton Swords were cut-up during World War II finding an intact, “unmolested” M1913 Saber in great condition AND with unaltered original scabbard is pretty hard nowadays – unless you check out some M1913 Patton Sword listings in my store, of course 😉
These intimidating “Patton Sword” fighters were made by a number of American makers during the war, including Anderson of Glendale, California. Finding a competed Anderson fighting knife is pretty hard nowadays – unless you look for similar M1913 fighting knife listings in my store 😉 This exact type is illustrated on page 53 of the KNIVES OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY WORLD WAR II book by Michael W Silvey – a well-established expert and the author of a number of books on the subject of the US military edged weapons (see the book’s scan attached).
This fighter is about 11-7/84” / 30.2 cm overall; the blade is about 6-7/8” / 17.5 cm; the edge is razor-sharp still; the tip is intact. The blade is stamped LF&C / “flaming bomb”/ 1918 on one side of ricasso, No.10 “screaming eagle” acceptance stamp on the other. Classic Anderson cast reddish-brown” plastic handle is in excellent condition, considering the age – the handle is tight with no play; no cracks or chips on the plastic; a few minor contact marks are noted for accuracy. Hand-made leather scabbard is the classic “theater-made” specimen; made from whatever materials were available an hand. Looks like it was fashioned from some sort of machinery belt. All original heavy-duty brass rivets are intact; the leather is soft and supple still.
After the war Anderson was selling these fighters through magazines and mail-order catalogues – see a copy of the original newspaper ad attached. This USA WW2 Anderson fighting knife is a great find – today most of the surviving “Anderson fighters” are in private collections and are off the market. This is one of the best WW2 era “non-regulation” US fighting knives with a lot of character and in excellent overall condition, you will not be disappointed!
This original USA WW2 Anderson fighting knife has not been cleaned or tampered with in any way, it is in 100% original “as is” condition; these are the actual photos; Garand clips are not included with the lot 😉 I have several fighting knives made from converted sabers, as well as some scarce WW1 and WW2 fighting daggers and trench knives available for sale – please take a look in our Militaria section.
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International shipping for this item will be $55 and up to most countries on our “ship-to” list.
