In it's current form I can only describe this thing as a shank. The blade reads
Lt L C Espino Souvenir World Wor II
Tunis D D Golabalo 20
65th Inf
The 65th infantry was apparently a Puerto Rican unit.
http://www.prvmsa.org/2012/07/11/65t...ntry-regiment/ They trained in North Africa and then shipped off for France.
I have no idea what D D Golabalo 20 means. There may be an I or a J after the second D, it's hard to say. There's also some flowery decorations. I don't know if these were done at the same time as the message or predate it.
The engraving seems pretty well done, I find it hard to believe this is what this object looked like when Lt Espino bought it. Why would you bother engraving such a crude and ugly weapon? I'd bet the the hilt is some ad hoc repair done on the battlefield.
The wood hilt is wrapped in what appears to be a bandage and the wood underneath looks like it was once dyed red. The tip of the blade has been reprofiled with a file or power tool to be more stabby and the edge is sharp and shiny so somebody sharpened it recently. It's not pretty but it looks quite effective as a weapon. The blade slides out easily but I don't see any markings on the tang.
Does anybody have a guess to what this once was or what D D Golabalo 20 might mean?