An old Martindale.

[Ystranc]

This old Martindale is a marriage of a 1944 sheath and a slightly later machete. This is a lot more common than you'd expect, the leather sheaths were shelved in favour of canvas because the leather rotted in next to no time in Burma. There is no implication of dishonesty, it is simply that the leather sheaths stayed in stores while the matching Martindale machetes went off into combat.

 

[Joecole]

This old Martindale is a marriage of a 1944 sheath and a slightly later machete. This is a lot more common than you'd expect, the leather sheaths were shelved in favour of canvas because the leather rotted in next to no time in Burma. There is no implication of dishonesty, it is simply that the leather sheaths stayed in stores while the matching Martindale machetes went off into combat.View attachment 18928View attachment 18929View attachment 18930

They did what was asked of them but in my day were usually issued to the Royal Engineers

 

[Ystranc]

My Grandad had one, He was signals attached to the West Yorks Regiment out of Queensbury Barracks.

 

[Ark79]

That’s nice

 

[Joecole]

My Grandad had one, He was signals attached to the West Yorks Regiment out of Queensbury Barracks.

My parent unit was signals and I was fortunate to get hold of a martindale in the original leather sheath, I had it cut down to about a foot, unfortunately some nice person stole it

 

[Madriverrob]

We had them in our engineer G10 toolboxes , I still have one from my time in a sapper field section in the 80’s

 

[Joecole]

We had them in our engineer G10 toolboxes , I still have one from my time in a sapper field section in the 80’s

And what was your opinion about them Rob

 

[Ystranc]

Since I'm going to be clearing my garden with it I'll let you know how I get on. It's got a little wild and needs some serious attention.

 

[Woodlander]

Thats a nice bit of kit. Grandad had one just like it. But no sheath, was in the kitchen drawer used it as a carving and butchery knife

 

[Madriverrob]

We had them in our engineer G10 toolboxes , I still have one from my time in a sapper field section in the 80’s

Great bit of kit , does what it says on the tin , we used them for all and everything . All sappers have access to a tool kit with a multitude of tools for all tasks that they might come across .

Improvise , Adapt and Overcome .....

Mine has a date stamp of 1943 , sheath also marked with callsign 22A and painted blue to denote which troop and to stop it being liberated

 

[Madriverrob]

A bit of Googling indicates mine is not a Martindale but is known as a " Kitchin Commando" and was a genuine WW2 issue item. Some forums it even has some value , might have to give it some TLC .

 

[Ystranc]

I've tried it out and I prefer my billhook so it's off to Carmarthen flea market with it...unless anyone wants to make me an offer for it before tomorrow.