Confirmation of sword type

[Hachiman44]

Hello,

My grandfather fought for Australia against the Japanese in New Guinea and Bougainville. Apart from a few small items such as a bugle and occupation money, I was not aware he brought back any artifacts. My grandfather passed several years back, but today I visited his brother who gave me a bunch of wartime items. He doesn't really remember how he got hold of them, but assumes they came from his brother.

You can see a rising sun flag, kamikaze bandana and an Imperial Navy cap. But I am most curious about the short sword and would like to confirm whether it was indeed from the Imperial Japanese Army and, if possible, try and work out its origin. I've done some Google searching and I cannot find an IJA short sword with a hilt like that. There are no markings or writing on it. The sheath is very flimsy and looks like a piece of thin bamboo wrapped around some other kind of wood. It would be great if someone could identify it and shed a little more light on it. I realise it might be difficult.

Thanks.

[fontessa]

Hell Hachiman44,

It seems that the dagger is not for the IJN officer.
http://ohmura-study.net/971.html

fontessa

[von thoma]

A posibility; It could be an American old short sword related with Civil War ( Confederate )

[Hachiman44]

Hell Hachiman44,

It seems that the dagger is not for the IJN officer.
http://ohmura-study.net/971.html

fontessa

IJA perhaps?

[fontessa]

Hell Hachiman44,

It seems that the dagger is not for the IJN officer.
http://ohmura-study.net/971.html

fontessa

IJA perhaps?

No, IJN officer was equipped with the dagger shown in the web I posted. IJA officer was not equipped with dagger.

fontessa

[R Leonard]

My theory would be that this might be similar to one of those almost mythical US cavalry sabres cut down for use as a machete. See third paragraph down under World War II; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_Cavalry_Regiment.

[Hachiman44]

After all that, turns out it's an Indonesian sword. Now to figure out how it came to be in my family...

[ROLAND1369]

As little as can be determined by the photo the knife most closely resembles the earlier M 1906 US cavalry saber. It can be confirmed or denied by checking the blade at the point where it joins the handle. There should be US Army ordnance markings and a US marking. Aside from the 112 cav story, The OSS in Burma had a number of Cavalry sabers of unknown model cut down as machetes. Note the resemblance of the Hilt of the 1906 of the saber to the knife in question as well as the slight curve of the remaining portion of the blade. Photos are from Ebay.

[ROLAND1369]

Having said this, there are significant differences enough to doubt that this is the source of the knife. It has no resemblance to the last production US saber, the model 1913. The latter would have been the saber issued during WW II.

[Hachiman44]

I consulted a sword specialist who suggested that perhaps the blade and hilt were originally separate - the blade being Indonesian style, the hilt being cavalry style. The hilts of cavalry swords across the world during the 18th and 19th centuries all had that style. The mystery now is how is came to be in my family. Perhaps an IJA soldier got it from an Indonesian person, and my grandfather (or someone else) got it and brought it back to Australia.