ross bayonet Mk.I Ross bayonet modified to be a civilian Bowie-style hunting knife

[ColonelKlink1942]

Next from the collection is this Mk.I Ross bayonet which was sold out of service and converted to a Bowie-style knife. From what I've been able to learn, in March and April 1944, 2,209 bayonets & 1,963 Mk I scabbards were declared surplus and sold to William Margolin, Montreal. He paid 12 cents for the bayonets & 3 cents for the scabbards. These bayonets were then shipped to the Pal Cutlery Company in Massachusetts, USA, for alterations. Muzzle rings ground off, cross guards shaped, press buttons ground off and sealed shut, blades shortened, sharpened, and shaped, a "Sold out of Service" marking (a C with two Broad Arrows pointing nose-to-nose, forming a star) stamped on the bayonet (mine is on the side of the pommel), scabbards were painted black and so on. Once altered, the bayonets were resold as "Hunting knives with leather scabbards" to the public for about $7.50/piece.

 

The markings on this bayonet consist of the Ross inspection markings on the tang, that "SoS" marking and the faded remnants of the acceptance date, "3-10" (March 1910), both on the left side of the pommel, the "Ross Rifle Co./Quebec/Patented 1907" on the right side of the pommel, and the struck-through unit markings "1 cc over 332" on the rear of the pommel. The "332" should refer to the "332nd rifle". Regarding the "CC", I haven't figured out what unit this belongs to, whether it was a Cyclist Battalion, or perhaps a Cadet Corps, so that remains a mystery to me.

 

This is a unique bayonet that I'm happy to have in my collection and one of four Ross bayonets presently within the collection! Photos below: