Knife Identification

[Nicknz]

I have attached a couple of photos of a knife I found amongst an uncles possession when he passed several years ago. I didn't know he had it so I was never able to ask him about where he got it from. He travelled widely over the course of his life and spent time in South Africa, India (managing a tea plantation) and Cambodia/Thailand. I have made inquiries over the years but have never been able to pin down the origin of the knife, although i think it is possible he acquired it when he he was in India. I understand the tea plantation he worked on was somewhere in the Assam area. The knife itself is quite plain, with no markings on it. It is about 38cm (14") in length and weighs about 40 grams (14ozs). The wooden sheath/scabbard is quite nicely made and secured with what appear to be copper rivets. I think it is just a daily working tool as opposed to anything special.
Any thoughts or information re it's possible place of origin would be much appreciated.

[Ian]

This knife comes from the Cocos-Keeling islands in the Indian Ocean. The sparsely populated islands are part of Australia and are owned by the Clunies-Ross family. A British presence on the islands during WWII led to a number of these knives eventually finding their way on to the market. I'm told they were produced by a couple of generations of the same family.

You can find more on these knives by searching this site for "Cocos Keeling."

[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.

[David]

Originally Posted by Ian

This knife comes from the Cocos-Keeling islands in the Indian Ocean. The sparsely populated islands are part of Australia and are owned by the Clunies-Ross family. A British presence on the islands during WWII led to a number of these knives eventually finding their way on to the market. I'm told they were produced by a couple of generations of the same family.

A very cool knife.
It looks like the Clunies-Ross family have not owned the islands since 1979.
"In the 1970s, the Australian government's dissatisfaction with the Clunies-Ross feudal style of rule of the island increased. In 1978, Australia forced the family to sell the islands for the sum of A$6,250,000, using the threat of compulsory acquisition. By agreement, the family retained ownership of Oceania House, their home on the island. In 1983, the Australian government reneged on this agreement and told John Clunies-Ross that he should leave the Cocos. The following year the High Court of Australia ruled that resumption of Oceania House was unlawful, but the Australian government ordered that no government business was to be granted to Clunies-Ross's shipping company, an action that contributed to his bankruptcy.[41] John Clunies-Ross later moved to Perth, Western Australia. However, some members of the Clunies-Ross family still live on the Cocos."