Two daggers from WW II Italy

[Brian Wolfe]

Hello All,

For the most part I don't like stories about how people's fathers or grandfathers came by their war souveniers. Especially when they are boiled down to, "He took it off a dead _____ (incert period racial slur here)". My late uncle who reluctantly when to war in 1944 and ended up seeing a lot of action that he never talked much about, used to tell us, "It's one thing to have to kill another man, it's another thing to scavenge his body for a trophy". He also said that most of those stories are a load of bull as when you are in battle the last thing you are thinking about is souveniers. I hope I did not insult anyone by saying this, it is just my opinion.

Anyway, my father served in the Canadian Air Force, Bomber Command. At the end of the war after taking part in the last Canadian bomber mission of WW II on the island of Helgoland (it's off the coast of the Netherlands) his crew was given the duty of dumping tons and tons of unused bombs into the ocean. You can imagine how bored these young fellows must have been acting as flying dump trucks day after day after having flowen missions over Germany. They got the chance to fly Lancaster Bombers from England to Italy to bring back British soldiers so they jumped at opportunity. They flew the Halifax Bombers for most of the war so the chance to fly the Lancaster was icing on the cake. While on layover in Italy my father purchased the two daggers I am posting today. The one with the eagle pommel is the Air Force dagger and the other is the Italian Fascist MVSN (Militizia Voluntaria Sicurezza Nationale) poniard, Model 1925. According to the book, "Fighting Knives" by Frederick J. Stephens, the blade was probably made from the obsolescent bayonet blades of the Model 1897 Vetterli-Vitali. The blade was shortened and the steel hilt was inset with wood grips. This specimen has the brass fascist device inlaid into the wood grip. I added the Itialian "tinnie" to the display. There is a sword with the same eagle grip but I have not been able to add one to my collection. I am afraid that the price would probably cost a lot of cash and my marrige. Don't laugh I've made that choice before; you'll notice I still have the collection!

Now for the big question. How much do you think my father paid for these daggers when he was in Italy in 1945/46? Remembering that it was a barter economy at the time.

Cheers

Brian

[Chris Boonzaier]

Well.... spike Milligan was getting birds for a couple of packs of ciggies...

Let me go with 5 packets of woodbines and a bottle of cheap wine?

[Brian Wolfe]

Well.... spike Milligan was getting birds for a couple of packs of ciggies...

Let me go with 5 packets of woodbines and a bottle of cheap wine?

Hi Chris,

Man, they would have loved you in post WW II Italy. My father traded one pack of smokes for the two daggers. His crew members laughed at him as they found out later such items were going for 3 smokes on average.

Cheers

Brian

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi Chris,

Man, they would have loved you in post WW II Italy. My father traded one pack of smokes for the two daggers. His crew members laughed at him as they found out later such items were going for 3 smokes on average.

Cheers

Brian

I guess I woulda gotten myself ripped off :-(

So.... can I send you the 5 packs and bottle?

[Brian Wolfe]

That would be good return on the initial investment, let me think about it.....

I think I'll pass, but you can send the bottle anyway.

Cheers

Brian