Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Collins No. 1253 “Paratroop Machete”/“OSS Machete”

drac2k · 5th July 2023, 02:55 PM

You have two very desirable WW2 machetes or bolos. The first example with the black handle did indeed go into the paratrooper's survival kit and while several may have found their way into the Philippine Theater, they were never distributed there as official OSS policy in so much as they did not operate in the Pacific. This was primarily due to General MacArthur's distrust of them.
The second example is much rarer and was truly issued to the Philippine troops trained in the United States. I have a picture somewhere with a soldier who was issued one. If you have the sheath for this one, you really have scored!

5th July 2023, 02:55 PM	#4
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,250	You have two very desirable WW2 machetes or bolos. The first example with the black handle did indeed go into the paratrooper's survival kit and while several may have found their way into the Philippine Theater, they were never distributed there as official OSS policy in so much as they did not operate in the Pacific. This was primarily due to General MacArthur's distrust of them. The second example is much rarer and was truly issued to the Philippine troops trained in the United States. I have a picture somewhere with a soldier who was issued one. If you have the sheath for this one, you really have scored!