At the beginning of World War II, the US military had no official fighting knife designated for issue and the only knives in inventory were some World War I era Model 1918 Mk1 brass knuckle knives and some Model 1917 Trench Knives. While both models had been acquired in relatively large numbers during the Great War, many were sold off as surplus when the war was over. The US Model 1905 Bayonet in service when the US entered World War II after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 had a 16” blade that did not lend itself to doing double duty as a fighting or utility knife. The need for such a knife was obvious, but it would be nearly a year before any fighting utility knives were being acquired by the military for general issue.

The men going off to war were often aware that a sturdy knife was an essential piece of equipment for both fighting and camp chores. To fill the void left by the initial inability of the US military to provide its fighting men with knives, hundreds of small makers and retailers got into the business of making and providing knives to service men about to ship overseas. Iconic names like Randall, Cole, Ruana, Nichols, Richtig and Huff were only a few of the makers who stepped up to provide fighting knives. Some companies like San Antonio Iron Works and Knife Crafters created an industry of converting old sabers into fighting knives and some makers like Murphy and Barteau used discarded surplus aluminum and saw blades to craft fighting knives.

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul area the firm of Kennedy Brothers Arms Company sought to provide fighting knives for this newly emerging market. The company was a large sporting goods retailer that had its origins as gun dealers and gunsmiths in the 1880s. After the turn of the century the firm became more a full line sporting goods dealer, selling everything from sports equipment to camping supplies. During World War II they offered two distinct patterns of fighting knives. The first, or “Type I” was a wooden hilted, double-edged dagger with a nominally 7 ½” blued blade, that was roughly 12” in overall length. The Type I knives were typically stamped in their grips with a Kennedy Brothers mark, and sometimes on the guard. The second, or “Type II”, was a more conventional Bowie style hunting type knife with a cast aluminum hilt. These were normally stamped with a Kennedy mark on the hilt as well. Numerous variations are noted in the guard materials used on the Type I daggers, and the Type II aluminum hilt knives were made with a variety of blade lengths and with some variation in blade style. While no one seems to know who made the Type I knives for Kennedy Brothers, the aluminum hilted Type II knives were produced by Donald Moore of Minneapolis. Both types of knives were delivered with two-piece sewn and riveted leather sheaths with hilt retention straps. The Type I sheaths were all marked 227S and were also sometimes stamped with the Kennedy Brothers mark The Kennedy Brothers remained in business into the post-World War II period, closing down sometime in the early 1950s. 

Offered hers is a truly excellent example of a Kennedy Brothers Arms Company Type I Fighting Knife with a correct, original Kennedy Brothers marked sheath. The knife has a 7 ¾” double edged blued steel dagger blade that tapers from 1 ¼” wide at the ricasso to a sharp tip. The blade has heavily beveled edges. The overall length is 12 ¼” with a tapered 4 ½” hilt. The oval steel guard is blued like the blade and is 2 ¾” long and 13/16” wide. The guard is made from a piece of steel about 9/64” thick and is backed with a piece of leather about the same thickness, creating a guard that is 5/16” thick. The tapered hardwood grip is secured with two poured rivets with the rivets capped with wood plugs. Both sides of the grip are stamped with a three-line die that reads:

KENNEDY

ARMS

ST. PAUL

The knife is well made and well balanced. The knife remains is about EXCELLENT condition with nearly all of the blued finish and blade polish intact. The edges have not been sharpened. The blade is almost entirely smooth but does show some lightly scattered freckles of minor surface oxidation and minor roughness, most notably around the ricasso area. The grips are fine and crisp and very well marked. The wood shows some lightly scattered bumps, dings and mars from handling and possibly carry. The knife is contained in its original Kennedy Brothers marked two-piece leather sheath that remains in VERY FINE condition. The sheath is stamped 227S at the top of the face of the belt loop. The face of the scabbard is stamped with markers mark that reads KENNEDY BROS. ARMS CO. + in a circle around the words ST. PAUL. The name Jerry Keaveny is written in period ink on the rear of the scabbard. Keaveny’s heroic service is discussed below. The construction of the scabbard is typical with a front piece sewn onto the full-length scabbard body which incorporates the belt loop. The front piece is reinforced with five rivets, two at the throat, two along the edges and one at the tip. A leather hilt retention strap is present near the top of the belt loop and has a galvanized steel snap to secure the hilt. A pair of 2 ¾” slits create belt slot that would accept a belt up to about 2 ½” in width. The sheath is in very fine condition, showing only some light wear and discoloration from handling and possibly light use. The largest area of wear and discoloration to the leather is just above the throat where it has been rubbed by the guard over the last 80+ years. There are also some lightly scattered spots of moisture discoloration and some scuff marks on the scabbard. The leather remains solid and pliable, the stitching is tight and secure, and the retention strap is fully functional.

Research reveals that Gerald “Jerry” Vincent Keaveny was born on October 5, 1917, to Irish immigrant parents. Like many young men who served in World War II, he came of age during the Great Depression, but unlike many he managed to compete all four years of high school, according to the 1940 Census. That Census further revealed that Jerry was employed as a service station attendant in Portland, working for Standard Oil Stations and had worked 52 weeks in 1939, earning a total of $1,400 that year. According the www.measuringworth.com calculators, that would be equivalent to an annual income of about $80,000 per year today. Jerry registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, and was noted to 5’ 11” tall, 170 pounds with a ruddy complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. Jerry (service number 053772) served in the Pacific as a Lieutenant commanding Company A, 322^nd Infantry Regiment, 81^st Infantry Division. The Division was formed in the summer of 1942 and saw much of its training at Fort Rucker in Alabama. In June of 1944 the Division embarked for Hawaii and service in the Pacific Theater. The 322^nd saw significant combat during the Palau Islands Campaign during the fall of 1944 and into 1945. The 322^nd was particularly heavily engaged on the islands of Anguar and Peleliu. Keaveny would be awarded the Silver Star for gallantry on Anguar on October 18, 1944. The citation reads in part:

“Lt. Keaveny led a litter squad into enemy territory to recover a wounded officer and two enlisted men. While moving up, his medical aid man was killed. Lt. Keaveny, upon reaching the wounded men, with complete disregard for his own safety, remained in an exposed position for two hours providing medical aid until, under cover of friendly smoke and fire, they could be evacuated.”

After the war, then Captain Keaveny would write a paper entitled Operations of Company A, 322^nd Infantry (81^stInfantry Division) in the Clean Up Phase of the Capture of the Island of Anguar, 11-22 October 1944 (Western Pacific Campaign) for his 1949-1950 Advanced Infantry Officers Class No II at Fort Benning, GA. The paper discusses Keaveny’s experience leading an “Infantry Rifle Company in the Attack of a Highly Fortified System of Ridges and Caves.”

At the completion of the Anguar Campaign the regiment moved with the rest of the 81^st Infantry Division to the island of Peleliu where they helped to support the 1^st Marine Division with the occupation and capture of that island, eventually relieving the 1^st Marine Division and completing the job the Marines had begun. On January 4, 1945, his father was notified that 1^st Lieutenant Keaveny had been wounded in action in the “Central Pacific”, no doubt in combat operations on Peleliu. In February the 81^st Division was withdrawn from the island to New Caledonia for rest and refit. In May the Division was sent to the Philippines to participate in the mopping up actions there on Leyte Island and start preparing for the invasion of Japan. After the Japanese surrender, the 81^st Division participated in occupation duties in Aomori Prefecture on the Japanese home island of Honshu, where it remained until deactivated and brought home in January of 1946. Newly minted captain Keaveny remained in the service and attended Advanced Infantry Officers training at Fort Benning, GA during 1949-1950. Keaveny died on July 29, 1950, in Portland, OR at the age of 33. His cause of death could not be found. A copy of Captain Keaveny’s paper about the Anguar Island operations is included with the knife, along with a copy of the newspaper article from the May 20, 1945, Portland Oregonian discussing his Silver Star citation.

Overall, this is a really wonderful example of a scarce and very high condition Identified World War II American Fighting Knife by Kennedy Brothers of St. Paul, MN owned by a Silver Star recipient. These are not common knives and are rarely found in such wonderful condition and with such fantastic history. This would be a fantastic addition to any advanced WWII fighting knife collection.

ON HOLD