AAF TANK MUSEUM Militaria Uniforms

1943 Dated, British Army, custom made dagger, to: "Lt. Col. Dudley Clarke, No. 1 Special Battalion, Lord Louis Mountbatten 1943", with leather scabbard

1943 Dated, British Army, custom made dagger, to: "Lt. Col. Dudley Clarke, No. 1 Special Battalion, Lord Louis Mountbatten 1943", with leather scabbard

This dagger with scabbard is dated 1943. It is a British Army, custom made dagger. It is named to a "Lt. Col. Dudley Clarke. The scabbard does show some wear but this is one beautiful dagger. Please see all the photos of this piece to see how nice it really is. This beautiful dagger includes 15 pages of biographical information on Colonel Clarke's fantastic career.

Comments From The Curator:

Much museum time has been inverted in researching this rare dagger and it's famous owner, Commando Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke. While some research remains to be done, the Tank Museum was successful in locating some initial biographical information. The high point of this research has revealed that Lt. Col. Clarke was a very important person in W.W.II. Clarke initiated the idea of the Commando" concept. He is considered to be the "Father of the Commandos". By the way - the absolutely best Commandos of all of W.W.II were these same British (and added Allied) Commandos, as commanded by Clarke when he was the 1st Director of Military Operations and Plans". The new Commando organization was named initially as "Offensive Operations", but was soon changed to the now famous title of "Combined Operations". Clarke was the person who 1st coined the term/title of "Commando". Clarke was also the very 1st Commando to have been wounded in action. He personally commanded over 3.500 Commandos in 7 companies during W.W.II. This rare and very impressive dagger is a one-of-a-kind presentation piece that would be the center piece in any advanced collection. When the dagger was obtained by the museum it was professionally appraised. It was appraised at the same value as is now being asked for. That same appraisal was done way back in 1999 when prices were much lower. A person can only guess at how much more this dagger is now worth considering that it is now 10 years older.

Buy it Now - $6,850.00

This item is in stock. Quantity 1. Item is not listed on the museum's shopping cart, and payments can not be made directly from the site. If you have interest in this item, please contact the museum by E-Mail, or by phone at 434-836-5323.