The Anderson ‘Patton’ knives of WWII
Via USMC Museum
Via the National Museum of the Marine Corps: In the early days of WWII, supplying the rapidly expanding American military was an extreme challenge. As knives were scarce, an enterprising knife manufacturer in Glendale, CA bought a stock of M1913 Cavalry Sabers to construct them into something usable that he could sell to deploying troops.
Knives of this type were created from surplus M1913 Cavalry sabers by the Anderson Company in California.
The company cut the long straight blade into three pieces, honed a point of the blades, and made a handle out of molded plastic. The owner of this knife personalized with “USMC” burned into one side of the gray plastic handle and “Robert Ames” on the other. GySgt. Robert Ames, serving with the 5th Marine Division, carried this knife on Iwo Jima, where he was wounded by shrapnel on the second day of combat.
Andersons are pretty popular in the militaria collecting community.
Hand-made Anderson fighting knife, made from the ricasso portion of a 1913-1919 dated Springfield Armory and LF&C Patton Saber blade. cut these blades into three separate pieces and re-shaped the points, and then made cast plastic handles. They run upwards of $300 on the collectors market, with twice that paid for nice examples.