Knife Identification

[Nicknz]

Thanks for that Ian - mystery solved. My uncle worked on Air Sea Rescue Launches in the Pacific in WW2 although I don't know if he would have ended up on the Cocos Islands. I think he was in the Solomons.
It makes you wonder if the source of the blades could have been from the remains of the German cruiser SMS Emden after it ran ashore on the Cocos Islands following its battle with the RAN cruiser Sydney.
According to Wikipedia the Emden was apparently only broken up for scrap by a Japanese company in the 1950's and there are still bits of it lying around on the Island.

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by Nicknz

...
It makes you wonder if the source of the blades could have been from the remains of the German cruiser SMS Emden after it ran ashore on the Cocos Islands following its battle with the RAN cruiser Sydney.
...

I have a couple of these, they come in various sizes. They are very distinctive looking, and you can tell their origin at a glance. There was a Malay family of blacksmiths that made these, and they indeed used steel taken from the Emden, which was easily accessible. They are well-made, too. Troopships frequently stopped there & they were a popular souvenir. The story of the battle adds greatly to their provenance.


RAN History <-link
WIKI Version <-link

[ausjulius]

the cocos island knives always cause confusion, ive called around on the island but its hard to get information. i was told the best place to get info will be the cocos island facebook group. there is most likely people alive today that made such knives up until the late 70s or early 80s. from pictures ive seen the knives are still common on the islands. there was once a blacksmiths shop on the home island as well

[Sajen]

Here two from my collection.