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Can anybody identify this tool ?

It is the tool in top of the photo, it's marked and dated



Total lenght is 68 centimeters, the blade's lenght is 30 centimeters.

The wooden shaft has got a kind metal of shisel blade at the tip. The blade is cast-iron and is a crossover between a shortend ice-axe and a ordinary entrenching toolblade. total weight is 1930 grams.
It's dubble the weight of the ice-axe (just one kilogram) that I've added for size comparrison.

I've added an normal wartime (1939 /|\ ) pick-axe head and a wartime ice-axe (1943 /|\ ) in this picture too.

Can anybody tel me what kind of tool this is, and who used this?

Thanks !

_________________
"NAAFICOOK" is in real life known as Frederik Loggen from the Netherlands. He collects WW2 militaria in general, but specialises in WW2 FEMALE-uniforms (Commenwealth only).
My profile-photo was made in 1974, when I was reenacting Naval-Bomb-Disposal during the family's summerholiday on the Normandy beaches.
(Allthough I didn't know at that time there was a thing called reenactment, and YES the bomb is LIVE!)
You can SKYPE me, my ID = floggen

Anybody ?

Is it military or Civil Defence ? ARP / NFS / AFS ???

Any ideas ?

_________________
"NAAFICOOK" is in real life known as Frederik Loggen from the Netherlands. He collects WW2 militaria in general, but specialises in WW2 FEMALE-uniforms (Commenwealth only).
My profile-photo was made in 1974, when I was reenacting Naval-Bomb-Disposal during the family's summerholiday on the Normandy beaches.
(Allthough I didn't know at that time there was a thing called reenactment, and YES the bomb is LIVE!)
You can SKYPE me, my ID = floggen

GS Pick?

Specialist tunneling or mining pick? Some kind of variation on the ice/climbing axe?

Maybe ask the RE Museum at Chatham - they might be able to shed light.

_________________
Colour Sgt. Bourne: "Sir, sentries report the Zulus have gone. All of them. It's a miracle!"
Lt. Chard: "If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer-Henry point-four-five calibre miracle."
Sgt. Bourne: "And a bayonet, sir, with some guts behind it."
Speculation is the secret vice of every history buff and...is unavoidable when passing judgements - Stephen E Ambrose
'It was noticeable that spirits were of the highest order whenever a mess tin of tea was being heated up' - S/Sgt Victor Miller, Glider Pilot Regiment.

Could be, I'm thinking it is an ARP/CD/NFS/NFS rescue tool, witch includes tunneling.



I don't think so, it's to heavy for swinging around holding it in one hand. The ice-axe in the picture weighs about 1 kilogram, the unknown pickaxe weighs almost double that.



I might do that ! (Earn back some of theirs high entryprices !)



Do you know anybody who specialises in WW2 ARP/CD/NFS/NFS ??

_________________
"NAAFICOOK" is in real life known as Frederik Loggen from the Netherlands. He collects WW2 militaria in general, but specialises in WW2 FEMALE-uniforms (Commenwealth only).
My profile-photo was made in 1974, when I was reenacting Naval-Bomb-Disposal during the family's summerholiday on the Normandy beaches.
(Allthough I didn't know at that time there was a thing called reenactment, and YES the bomb is LIVE!)
You can SKYPE me, my ID = floggen

according to "Equipment of the wwii tommy" by david gordon it is a small pick/mattock and pry bar. unfortunatly it says no more than that, but from the picutre it is what ive said above

_________________
Lieutenant Collins
10 Platoon
B Coy
2nd Bton Royal Warwickshire Rgt
185th Brigade
3rd British Infantry Div

Just discovered this topic -
So a super-necro-post to set things straight for anyone else discovering this topic:

It's a (Royal Signals) "Linesmans Mattock", or more precisely 'Mattock, Telegraph Equipment, MkI'. Primarily used for trenching line comms' cables for buried road-crossings.

Can be seen in action in this video from 15:12 (on screen time code position 04:18:43:00) until 17:49 (on screen time code position 04:19:19:00):

http://www.wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=89902

Nice to learn something new, have seen this stuff a few times, but always thought it is just a kind of sapper's tool.

Excellent, one more piece of kit I "need" but will probably never find.

Yep. And it comes with its own specific webbing carrier. I only know of one, complete with webbing carrier, in a private collection.

What a coincidence ! I was just google-ing "pickaxes" and found my old post again. I allready found out in the years it was a linesmans tool, but never saw the film. Thanks Mc Vickors!

_________________
"NAAFICOOK" is in real life known as Frederik Loggen from the Netherlands. He collects WW2 militaria in general, but specialises in WW2 FEMALE-uniforms (Commenwealth only).
My profile-photo was made in 1974, when I was reenacting Naval-Bomb-Disposal during the family's summerholiday on the Normandy beaches.
(Allthough I didn't know at that time there was a thing called reenactment, and YES the bomb is LIVE!)
You can SKYPE me, my ID = floggen

*sigh* something else I need!

No problemo! Happy to share the love of Sigs' equipment!

If anyone is looking for one to use on display, the British vehicle mounted mattocks of the 70s/80s/90s look very similar, especially once the paint has been stripped from the wood helve and the head painted black.



Ooh, you into Linesmans' equipment? Fancy clubbing together with a few other chaps to put on a line-laying party at an event next year?

Sounds great ! Yes I am interested in that stuff and keen to learn.

Found a nice pair of MKIV pliers the other day...1916 dated but i'm assuming they are the same as ww2 ones?

From eBay? £35? I know the ones if so - Yes, exactly the same, continued use from from WW1 right through to post-WW2!

A bit of an old thread necro (yet again) but i did recently pick up the pickaxe head. Quite chuffed about that, this type of thing does not turn up often here in the US. The helve and chisel bit will need some sorting, but shouldn't be too bad.