HEMBRUG KLEWANG for comment.
 

Hi,
not certain whether to put this on the European forum ....but seeing as this is based on a ethnographic design thought it may be better here. Hemburg Klewang seems to be WW2 issue (brass plate on inner guard is marked....

6-I aF.II
45

Does anyone what this means...I am assuming 45 is the year.

Scabbard is stamped

O (or C) W
I or N (?)
10 40

The HEMBRUG stamp seems genuine. On the opposite side of the blade is a crown with a W underneath
any info. or comments greatly appreciated.

All the best
David


.

I found out that the scabbard marking is ...

"CW" = 1900: Constructie Werkplaatsen Artillerie, Delft (NL)

Leather scabbards were marked by makers ...a scabbard that was damaged would have been returned to the manufacture for repair.

The crown and W suggests that the blade was made 1914 (or 1906-1914 :shrug: )


Before 1905: J
1905: M
1914: W
1915: X
1915/16: Y
1916: Z


I cant work out whether this was Dutch Army or KNIL. I think the scabbard is correct for KNIL . Other than the brass plate there are no serial numbers ...does this suggest KNIL ...rather than infantry ?

David

Just discovered the crown and W are inspection marks...

Crown-W : Wiersma - apparently succeeded O (crown-O ended 1898 )and was active through WW1.

Hello David,

Your klewang has been made in the Hembrug factory in Zaandam,Holland.
This one was issued for the Dutch colonial troops in the Dutch East-Indies.
Most likeley the brass stamp says 6-Inf.II and not af (the ink may have been disappeared over the years). If so, this would mean that your klewang was used by the 6th company of the II Infantry Batallion. The number 45 has nothing to do with the year of manufacturing, it's a weaponnumber.

The scabbard is not the original one that was made for it (not uncommon, since leather does not lasts long in the tropics) and was locally made in Bandoeng, Jawa.

CW stands for Centrale Werkplaats, something like ''Central Workingplace'' :)
N stands for Nieuw Model, New Model
10 and 40 stands for the date of manufacturing, October 1940.

These types of klewangs (yours is the m1911) were made from 1911 till 1940.

Hope this helps,

regards Chris

Hi Chris,
great information :) , thank you very much. Extremely happy with this being colonial . Now to research the 6th company of the II Infantry Batallion ....yes, you are correct, using a magnifying glass the 'a' does look more like an 'n' :o

Best Regards
David

Hullo David,

Slight correction: 'N' merely stands for 'nieuw'/new i.e.the date following refers to when the scabbard was made.
'CW' stands for (Artillerie) Constructie Winkel or (Artillery) Construction Shop /Factory. The stamp was originally 'ACW'. The 'W' is also often referred to as 'Werkplaats'/Workplace.
There was a 'Centrale Werktplaats' in Bandoeng, constructed in 1947, but it didn't last long.


Java battle-order prior to surrender on 11/03/1942:

Commander on Java was Lieutenant-General Hein Ter Poorten with headquarters in Bandoeng.

Battalion II was part of the 2nd KNIL Infantry Division under the command of Major-General Pierre A. Cox.

Hope it helps.

Best,

Thank you Amuk :)

What I thought was a late issue WW2 sword....has become a weapon with an interesting history :cool:

Kind Regards David

Interesting.
So this klewang may have a story to tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Java_(1942)

Where did you get it David ?

Hi Willem :)
I bought this privately.....it was cluttering up a garage :eek: The seller believed it was WW2 ... ie 45 being the year ....I knew Hembrug had ceased production before 1945, so assumed a re-hilt and took a chance. I can see these would have been quite effective in jungle environments and was surprised at the sharpness (I've a cut finger to prove it) after being untouched for so long.

Kind Regards David

Just received a reply from the seller. Bought by him in the '90's in a junk shop. Later he saw a very similar sword in a Militaria museum which was stated as being used to cut lead to strenghen the sword arm ......has anyone heard of this....

Best
David

Great find David.

I'd quite like one myself! ;)
I always think of the 'cold steel 1917 Cutlass' cut tests when I think of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Qpz...ure=grec_index
Tremendously effective thing. No beach mat in Kent is safe now!

Hi David,
'Leadcutter cutlass' used in Britain in the latter half of the 19thC to strengthen the arm! A variety were certainly made by Wilkinson I'm not sure if there were any other makers.
Regards,
Norman.

Hi Gene......you know me so well :D ;) . Yes the sword is very agile and swift ...I can imagine a devastating weapon, in skilled hand(s), in close, confined environments. All the best

David

Hi Norman,
thanks for that....I can only assume that the 'leadcutter cutlass' is 'similar' to the Dutch Klewang ....and this mis-identification by the previous owner is probably the reason that I purchased this at a very affordable price ;) .

Kind Regards David

Just done a quick search for leadcutter cutlass ......often they were marked as, surprise, surprise 'leadcutters' ...but did you know there were other 'cutters' which were also marked on the blade, such as......'sheepcutter' ....and 'hankerchief cutter'.....the mind boogles :)

Regards David

Table of inspection marks
 

Hello David, my question/response is somewhat late but I hope you see my question. I collect klewangs for many years now and still my main problem is to determine the year of manufacture. Now you show a table of inspection marks that seems to be quite useful. Do you have more years now and where did you find these?

In general, anybody who has information about the inspection marks, all info is welcome

Kind regards,
Ron