Dha Question

[Lew]

Here is a link to an old thread.

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002441.html


Lew

[Mark]

I have only seen two military dha, one Andrew's and another someone sent my for comment. Coincidently I just came across photos of the latter again last night while organizing files (photos are at home, but I'll post them tonight). Unlike Andrew's, this other one is a Kachin-style sword dao, with a very straight blade and a square tip, and the number "50" inside a box or crown stamped on the forte. It has a wooden scabbard, too, not a leather one.

Here is a photo I think Andrew had located, showing a squad of Kachin Rangers during WW2. Dha of both styles are visible in the picture; the ones the first and second (and possibly the seventh) men from the left are carrying resemble the Kachin-style dha, and the sixth man from the left looks like he has one like Andrew's.

[Pusaka]

There is a very nice PAST ebay auction of a Dha. Item number 6606853813

[Alan62]

Thanks for all the information.
I don't know what this one is maybe a Dao with a broomstick handle?
It has a very well made sheath,No marks on the blade.

[Mark]

I am sure the handle is original, but it has lost its wrapping. The handles of dha are, characteristically, round in cross section, and wooden covered in metal or wrapped with cord, rattan, ray skin, etc.

Here are the pictures of the Kachin-style dao I was sent. The owner wrote the following about the sword and where it came from:

This is what I know about the sword, my dad brought it back from Burma at the end of World War II. He at one time said it was from a tribe of Native Headhunters, I am not sure if there is any truth to that or if it just made a good story line. He was with the 236th Engineers Combat Battalion in June of 1945 and that is about all I know of Him, His name was Edgar F. Moore. The Handle of the sword is 11 inches and the blade is 21 inches, and the blade has the marking of a 50 inside a symbol like maybe a shield. The blade and scabbard are in very good condition and the blade is still very sharp.

I replied with my thoughts about the Kachin Rangers, and it being likely that his father worked on the Burma Road, and he wrote back:

I did see the Kachin Rangers on your web site and meant to tell you that one of those individuals is carrying a sword that looks something like mine, well, at least the outside does. Yes, you would be right, in that he was working on the Burma Road in support of a water unit. I have a letter written by him to his father and he says that he is writing from somewhere in Burma!

Yours looks very similar to this one, and it may just be a case where a Kachin Ranger used his own dha in an army-issue scabbard. You also could try gently pulling off the handle, as I can see that it has gotten compressed onto the blade a bit, and see if there are marks covered by the wood.

[PUFF]

Bamboo, giant reed and alike are common materials for sword handle for thier toughness and shock absorbtion. Your handle 's true. Only furrule, Butt cap, and rattan grip were missing. Handle shows some damage though. Someone might try to hack something and, without furrule, then the wood simply split