SHOT DOWN IN A HAIL OF BULLETS**OKINAWA BATTLEFIELD RECOVERED**WW2 Japanese NCO's Type 95 Katana With ‘The Lijima Swords Factory’ & Kokura Arsenal Marks & Scabbard. Sn 23803:4 Sword

**SHOT DOWN IN A HAIL OF BULLETS**OKINAWA BATTLEFIELD RECOVERED**WW2 Japanese NCO's Type 95 Katana With ‘The Lijima Swords Factory’ & Kokura Arsenal Marks & Scabbard. Sn 23803:4 - 23803:4

The Battle of Okinawa (codenamed Operation Iceberg) was the last major battle of World War II, fought from April 1 to June 22, 1945. The extreme high cost of lives on both sides and fierce resistance at Okinawa heavily influenced President Harry S. Truman's decision to use atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki later that summer. This is an original WW2 Japanese NCO's Katana and scabbard with Combat damage recovered by a Japanese Military Archaeologist from the Okinawa battle theatre and retain the archaeologist’s ‘C2’ archive tags / labels. The sword & scabbard have battle damage which consists of a series of bullet holes piercing and denting the scabbard. The bullets passed through the scabbard in areas striking the blade clipping the cutting edge. The blade strikes match the holes in the scabbard indicating that the Japanese NCO was strafed by machine gun fire during battle while carrying the sword sheathed. It is unlikely that the NCO survived the attack. The sword has the typical aluminium cast handle with lanyard ring and fully functioning scabbard retaining clip. The hilt retains some of its original brown paint. Its early, fullered, 27 ½” blade is stamped on one side '11183' and with inspection mark (later examples were stamped on the spine). The hilt is stamped with Lijima Swords Factory roundel with crossed swords mark and inspection mark together with Kokura arsenal mark (see pages 185 & 186 of Swords Of Imperial Japan by Dawson). The hilt's locking catch works as it should. The sword’s scabbard has its original single hanging ring. The scabbard retains most of its original brown paint finish. The throat of the scabbard is stamped with matching number. The price for this unique piece includes UK delivery. Sn 23803:4

£2,200.00