This month we feature some great machete shots sent to us by our good friend Charlie Flick. Knife and bayonet shots are somewhat hard to find, machete shots are almost impossible! Thanks Charlie. These photos are in the public domain available from the National Archives.
Click on the thumbnail for the full size photo
The first photo is dated 1944. The caption sounds kind of bogus to me. "This photo shows a charging group of soldiers in Commando Ranger jungle warfare close combat training armed with machete knives. The long caption indicates every 50 men that attempt the course, only 20 graduate (that is a WARTIME statistic)." The second is bayonet practice, probably same outfit, but also shows 18" machetes in scabbards. Dated 1944.
The caption on the third was to the effect of "Panamanian officer aiding in the instruction of hand to hand jungle combat with the machete. Here the proper parry to defend from an overhead slash is shown. Note if the attacker completes the slash, his neck is exposed to the riposte. The soldiers shown are from the 158th RCT "Bushmasters" of the Caribbean Defense Command." Note that the soldiers are not wearing scabbards but do have on a single glove. Interesting in that the machete is supposed to be a tool not a weapon, but the training here looks decidedly offensive in nature! Photo is dated 1942. Machetes look like 22" blades.
I thought these were kind of cool pics and thought you could use them on the site.You were right Charlie, thanks!