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MODEL 1917 TRENCH KNIFE – RARE 7 KNUCKLE GUARD –
EXCELLENT “LIKE NEW” SPECIMEN OF THE US ARMY AMERICAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE FIGHTING KNIFE: This is an
excellent specimen of the very rare “Seven Knuckle”
Model 1917 Trench Knife.
As World War One descended into the brutal character of
trench warfare, all of the armies involved were driven
to develop specialized weapons and equipment to meet the
demands of this new form of combat. Benefiting from the
lessons learned by their allies prior to the United
States entering the war, the US Army sought out an
effective trench knife to issue to the American soldiers
and marines of the American Expeditionary Force.
While the details of the Ordnance Department’s adoption
of the Model 1917 Trench Knife are apparently lost to
history, it is fairly well accepted that the concept for
the knife was based on the trench or fighting knives
then in use by British and French soldiers on the
Western Front. The task of developing the design for
the US Army was let out through a civilian contract to
the Henry Disston & Sons Company of Philadelphia, a
major manufacturer of saws and other woodworking tools,
and one of the largest industrial firms in
Philadelphia.
Disston & Sons presented the army with this design
featuring a blued 9" tapered triangular blade mounted
with a walnut wood grip protected by a steel bow shaped
hand guard. The outer surface of the guard was forged
with pyramid shaped solid “knuckles” or spikes evenly
spaced along the curve, the points standing
approximately ½” above the surface of the guard.
The Model 1917 Trench Knives most frequently found on
the market and in collections are those with six
pyramid-shaped knuckles on the hand guard bow; however a
far rarer version, such as the knife offered here, was
manufactured with seven knuckles - the extra knuckle
positioned on the front face of the guard bow, closest
to the underside of the blade.
These seven knuckle knives are referred to in a variety
of sources as “Type II” or as “variants”. However,
there is a school of thought - and frankly, it is one
that makes far more sense to me – that these seven
knuckle knives were those knives first produced based on
the design proffered by Disston & Sons. While to my
knowledge, the original design drawings are not known to
exist, I suspect the original design featured the seven
knuckles and it was only after the first production run
of knives was examined that this extra knuckle was
identified as a problem. When the knife is returned to
the scabbard, the extra knuckle is in position to pinch
or jab the soldier’s index finger between that knuckle
and the metal throat of the scabbard. The extra knuckle
was simply in the way. Removing the knuckle would not
detract from the effectiveness of the knife as it was
too high on the guard bow to impact on the enemy soldier
if the guard was used in a punching motion in close
quarter combat. It would have been a simple solution to
alter that particular part of the die which forged the
hand guard and delete this extra knuckle.
As these seven knuckle Model 1917 Knives have appeared
in collections and on the market in such small numbers –
some estimate less than 100 are known to exist - it
makes more sense that the seven knuckle knives represent
the first production run. It stands to reason that upon
inspection and evaluation, Ordnance ordered a change in
the design and the subsequent production runs were of
the more common six knuckle knives.
The Model 1917 Trench Knife was produced in time, and in
sufficient quantities, to be issued to the soldiers of
the American Expeditionary Force and they were used on
the front lines.
The weapon's long, triangular blade was obviously
designed to be deployed in a stabbing or thrusting
motion. Without a traditional cutting edge which could
be applied to any number of utilitarian uses the soldier
might encounter, this knife had a singular grim purpose.
Given that wide bladed, single edged knives had been
common in the ranks of American forces since before the
American Revolution, why the army decided on a
triangular bladed knife with such a narrow profile
raises an interesting question. One that may be
answered, if only in part, by a contemporary medical
book which specifically addressed this choice.
In their The Practice of Surgery: A Treatise on
Surgery for the Use of Practitioners and Students,
Henry R. Wharton, M.D., and Benjamin F. Curtis, M.D.
wrote on page 178:
“Bayonet Wounds. These wounds vary with the shape of
the bayonet with which they are inflicted - either the
triangular-shaped or the sword-shaped bayonet. Bayonet
wounds are said to be especially liable to be infected
and cause deep-seated suppuration. The wound produced
by the sword bayonet is of the nature of an incised
wound, and heals more promptly than that produced by the
triangular-shaped bayonet”.
Initially published in 1897 with subsequent publications
in 1899 and 1902, the copy of this book that I was able
to access was cataloged into the Boston Medical Library,
date stamped March of 1917, indicating it was a
contemporary medical text book currently in use at the
time of our entry into World War One. Perhaps the type
of wound created by the triangular blade, and the more
prolonged period of healing those wounds required,
factored into the choice of the shape of the blade.
This rare example of a “seven knuckle” Model 1917 Trench
Knife has survived in excellent condition, showing no
signs of issue or use, and in as close to “like new”
condition as can be reasonably expected. The knife is
full form, with no loss of the blackened subdued finish,
no misshaping to the guard, and the walnut grip is in
full form with only minor handling or storage marks.
The full length blade shows no evidence of sharpening,
without any nicks or dings on the edges. The “US”, the
maker’s mark “L.F.C.” for Landers, Frary, & Clark, and
the date, “1917” stamps are bright and fully legible on
the face of the quillon.
This knife is not accompanied by a scabbard, however correct and faithful
reproductions of the original
scabbards are available on the market. In the process of researching these rare
specimens, I have learned that these seven knuckle
knives are seldom found with an original scabbard,
perhaps because they were held back when replaced by the
later six knuckle knives. It is also possible that the
Ordnance Department followed their practice instituted
well before the Civil War of crating bayonets and the
respective scabbards separately. Leather scabbards,
whether the earlier bayonet scabbards or these later
knife scabbards, were known to suffer a high rate of
heavy wear and breakage due to use in the field, and as
a result would require replacement far more often than
the steel blades. Crating the scabbards separately not
only protected them from damage from the blades in
transit, but the separate crates of scabbards
facilitated the delivery of necessary replacements to
the units in the field as they were needed. The
absence of the scabbard is a small consideration in
light of the rarity of these knives.
This is a special offering of a very rare World War One
fighting knife that would make an important addition to
your collection. (0256) $1075
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