French blades on Saharan Edged Weapons

Jim McDougall · 25th August 2022, 02:47 PM

Thank you for coming in Ed! and what you suggest is well placed. The French presence there was not a huge occupation, especially in desert regions in the Sahara. As you note, there were plenty of blades coming in from Germany and there was brisk trade on these caravan networks.

There is no doubt that native smiths could produce blades as required, but as often the case, it is a matter of convenience or simply repurposing which is of course standard in any remote regions such as these deserts.

Actually I am thinking more of these s'boula and genoui type daggers/dirks or whatever category they might fall into. I know I have seen examples with the thin Gras type bayonets, but cannot find them.

With the sabers in Mali, of the Manding, these were of course often with French saber blades as well as German. It is the same with aljuinar takoubas, and the guy I got mine from (it was from Ouangadougou) had seen examples even with British blades by MOLE.

At the far reach of my hopes here are perhaps finding any weapons with blades of Foreign Legion extraction. Thus far I have not even found evidence that these weapons were specifically marked which seems surprising. Many of the Foreign Legion were Swiss, German and Austrian but not sure if they might have had their own weapons in cases, probably not.

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25th August 2022, 02:47 PM	#4
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,289	Thank you for coming in Ed! and what you suggest is well placed. The French presence there was not a huge occupation, especially in desert regions in the Sahara. As you note, there were plenty of blades coming in from Germany and there was brisk trade on these caravan networks. There is no doubt that native smiths could produce blades as required, but as often the case, it is a matter of convenience or simply repurposing which is of course standard in any remote regions such as these deserts. Actually I am thinking more of these s'boula and genoui type daggers/dirks or whatever category they might fall into. I know I have seen examples with the thin Gras type bayonets, but cannot find them. With the sabers in Mali, of the Manding, these were of course often with French saber blades as well as German. It is the same with aljuinar takoubas, and the guy I got mine from (it was from Ouangadougou) had seen examples even with British blades by MOLE. At the far reach of my hopes here are perhaps finding any weapons with blades of Foreign Legion extraction. Thus far I have not even found evidence that these weapons were specifically marked which seems surprising. Many of the Foreign Legion were Swiss, German and Austrian but not sure if they might have had their own weapons in cases, probably not.