Swedish Army Wire Cutters, Mini - Bolt Cutters, WW2 Issue

Today we'll be taking a look at another bit of Swedish Army, WW2 field equipment.  Every country that has sent an army into the field, from the WW1 era, until now, has issued their troops some form of wire cutters.  The Swedes were no different.  Today we'll be taking a look at the Swedish version of the military wire cutters.

These cutters are basically a very small set of bolt cutters.  They most likely would have been issued out to field engineers (Sappers), and on a more limited basis, to the regular field soldiers. 

WW2 era Swedish soldier with field tools on belt.

 Normally each squad of soldiers would be issued a few pairs of these cutters.  Not everyone would be issued them.  The idea being that if a squad needed a set, they would be passed them around as needed.

This particular set of cutters is stamped with the Swedish 3-Crowns, which dates it to 1942 or newer.  I can not find any manufacturer's marks or dates, but they may be there, under the thick, black paint.  

From what I can tell, these cutters were issued during the WW2 years and stayed in service well into the Cold War era.  This particular set appears to be in new and unissued condition.

Each set of cutters was issued with it's own leather head-cover, and leather wrist lanyard.  The wrist lanyard would have been used to keep the cutters from being dropped or lost while in use on the battlefield.  I have seen these leather covers and lanyards in various colors, everything from natural, to black, or green.   The leather head-cover on this set is stamped with the Swedish 3-Crowns property mark. 

I wish I knew more specifics about which units these cutters were issued to and their specific, intended use in the field was, but for now we'll just have to stick with generalities.  The research continues!

Let's take a closer look at these vintage cutters.