Japanese Knife : Sergeant K T Bilney, 14/32 Battalion

Japanese knife having a plain wooden handle attached to tang with a wooden peg. There are three asterisks in black ink on the obverse. The blade is of a Tanto shape with a single edge and a steel habaki. The tang is short and unsigned. There appears to be no temperline on the blade although the blade may have been hand forged.

This knife was acquired by VX138232 Sergeant K T Bilney of 14/32 Battalion, on 17 March 1945, on Bacon Hill in the Mount Sugi/Waitavalo area of New Britain. A Japanese soldier had used the knife to kill himself.

• Japanese knife scabbard : Sergeant K T Bilney, 14/32 Battalion