US Army M3 1943 Knife As Brought Home From England By A WW2 Vet In 1945
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:240409 | Brand: Utica Cutlery |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
Army Air Forces Sgt Paul Clawson Lewis returned home from England during late 1945 with this M3 knife. I am his grandson-in-law, and while searching for a tape measure in Paul's former hobby room at his widow's home in Lancaster, California, I came upon it. His widow, who is 90 years old and has an amazing memory for events and details that happened many decades ago, told me that he returned from England with it, but knew little more about the knife. Sgt Paul C. Lewis ...was stationed at Great Ashfield Airdrome, England during 1943-1945 where he served as a B-17 crew chief under the 385th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force. Crew chiefs are assigned a particular aircraft, and perform/oversee maintenance to that aircraft. The 385th contributed significantly to the Allied European war effort during WWII, executing attacks on German targets including industrial areas, air bases, oil refineries, and communications centers in Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway. It led the famous attack on the Focke-Wulf assembly plant at Marienburg in East Prussia on 9 October 1943. 385th B-17s were frequently damaged and destroyed. Although we have no record of Paul flying with the 385th, all indications are that he worked many long, stressful hours repairing damage inflicted to B-17s by the Nazi war machine. He was honorably discharged on 26 November 1945. During his WW2 service, he was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Service Medal. He also earned the WW2 Victory Medal with three overseas service bars.
Paul married Lucille Burton on 5 March 1947 in Ogden, Utah. They had four beautiful children and lived in various parts of the USA before settling in Lancaster, California. Paul Lewis passed away in 2010, but his widow Lucille lives on and celebrated her 90th birthday last year. She enjoys reasonably good health and fortunately continues to live in the Lancaster home where she and Paul resided for many years.
Her fixed retirement income pays her bills with little left over. All proceeds from the sale of this knife will go to Mrs. Lewis, allowing her to do something nice while she still has her health, such as taking an Amtrak Starlighter tour up the California Coast, visiting friends and family in Salt Lake City, Utah, or visiting her sister in Oregon.
The shipping charge will be based on the actual lowest-available USPS rate, with zero handling or packaging charges added.On May-21-19 at 17:57:17 PDT, seller added the following information:This M3 is completely unrestored.The handle is leather and completely tight, with no loosemess.Very light rust is visible, by the darker brown areas near the tip, with no pitting. There are two small pits about 1 1/2” from the tip on one side.
