USFS McCleod Tool, Wildland Fire Fighting Tool, U.S.F.S. US Forest Service, Early Model, Olympic National Forest, Restoration

Well, today we'll be taking a break from the recent parade of old military shovels, to take a look at a very unique wildland fire fighting tool from my collection.

 Those of you who have cut some fire lines back in the "golden age" of wildland firefighting, should recognize this tool.  It is a McCleod tool. 
The tool next to it is my USFS Pulaski.  You can read about the Pulaski in my blog posting here:
https://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2015/11/us-forest-service-pulaski-fss-woodings.html

I had to clear out a patch of burr clover back behind the bunker, so, I took the opportunity to pull out my old USFS McCleod tool. 
For those of you who don't know about Burr Clover, you can read about that nasty plant here:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/weeds/burr-medic-weed.htm

It was great to have a McCleod in hand again, but I have to tell you, it seemed like WAY more work to "cut line" than it did when I was 35 years younger!  The photo below is from my time with the Butte County Fire Department / CDF, back in the 1980's.

1984 Butte County Fire Department / Calif. Dept. of Forestry CDF

I picked up this McCleod tool locally, here on the Olympic Peninsula.  It was in rough shape, but the head was solid.  The handle was snapped off, and only a stub remained attached to the head.  The wood was extremely weathered, but it was clearly marked as a US Forrest Service tool!

This McCleod is one of the early models that found their way into the forest service.  The McCleod tool was invented by Malcom McCleod, in 1905.  Malcom was a US Forest Service Ranger assigned to the Sierra National Forest, in California.  

Here's a link to a page with some great photos of early USFS and CCC crew firefighting equipment.  You'll find a list of albums down near the bottom of the web page:
https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/policy-and-law/fire-u-s-forest-service/u-s-forest-service-fire-suppression/ 

Here is a history of the US Forest Service from it's beginning, back in 1905. There are quite a few pages, filled with outstanding history and photos:
http://npshistory.com/publications/usfs/fs-650/sec2.htm

My particular tool is unmarked, but based on the weathering, and construction, I would place it before WW2.  How far back before the 1940's, I really can't say, but it is definitely an old one.

For many years, the McCleod was one of the main tools used for cutting wildland fire line when fighting grass and forest fires.  Even today, the McCleod will be found on the fire lines with various Federal, State and local fire crews.  The blade side can scrape the ground back to dirt, and the rake side can quickly clear loose debris.  When the McCleod was not on the fire line, it was often found doing trail work or other forest maintenance tasks.  In fact, today it is still a favored tool for trail builders. 

They are awkward to carry, and store, but they do a great job at clearing ground!  The perfect tool for my burr clover job.

My tool obviously needed some restoration work.  I started out by removing the broken handle.  I cut out the section that had been "branded" USFS and still had some of the remaining red and black handle marking paint.  I would use this section later when I installed the "new" handle.

The head was worked over with a file to give it a "regulation" blade edge, and the entire surface was sanded and wire brushed to remove rust.  I kept most of the original patina, and matched the bright metal portions (exposed while cleaning) with liquid gun bluing.

I then salvaged a solid, but nicely aged, handle off of a newer shovel.  Several hours of sanding, staining, and "aging" later, and I was ready to "brand" it with a USFS marking, and bands of red and black paint.  The USFS brand was hand carved, and then the brand, and paint bands, were roughed up, "aged", and blended to match the handle, and original character of the tool. 

The red and black bands of paint are often seen on fire tools that appear in USFS photos from the 1970's and 1980's.  I am not sure though, when the color scheme first appeared.

I fitted the handle to the head, and reattached it using steel rivet-nails that were very similar to the originals.

The "Museum Restoration" was complete!  The McCleod is right at home in the Bunker, next to my USFS Pulaski, as well as out back, grubbing out burr clover.

To finish things up, here are two albums.  The first is the "before restoration" album, and the second is the finished tool album. 

Before Restoration:

The Finished McCleod Tool:

Model 1898 German Shovel Entrenching Tool, M1898 Schanzzeug, Finnish Army Re-Issued with Russian style handle, WW1, Winter War, Continuation War, SA and P marked

Well, here we go with another shovel!  I keep thinking that I'm getting to the end of the shovels to show, and I end up with another beauty.  That is exactly what we'll be taking a look at today.

I love the "odd-ball", unique shovels, in particular, and this one is exactly that.  This shovel is a Model 1898 German "Schanzzeug", or entrenching tool, also known as the "Kleines Spaten für Infanterie", or Small Infantry Shovel.  I said that this was a Model 1898 shovel, but that is not quite all that it is............ As we work our way through the details, you'll see just how unique this particular shovel actually is.

I purchased this shovel from a seller who was clearing out items that were found in her father's barn, after he passed away.  This shovel was found alongside an Imperial Russian Army spade that had been reissued to the Finland Army.  The Finnish shovel had the punched hole in the blade, along with "SA" and "P" stamps on the blade, as well as a healthy coat of Finland Green paint.  It's brother, my Model 1898, was not as obviously marked, as Finnish issued, but it did hold a few unique clues that pointed to it's previous service with the Finland Army. 

This shovel has the blade of a German, Model 1898, with an Imperial Russian style handle, and the faint blade stampings of the Finish Army.  Which I guess, sort of makes this a "German-Finnish-Russian" Model 1898 spade!

The earlier German spades were the Model 1874.  These M1874 spades did not have folded over "ears" and had a retaining ring around the metal shank. In 1898, the Germans altered the design by folding over, and riveting, the blade "ears, and eliminating the shank retaining ring.  Instead of the ring, the blade-shank, top metal was wrapped around and welded on the back side.  This formed a a sort of "hybrid ring".  This new design was designated the Model 1898. Many German shovels of the WW1 era, did not have any maker's marks.

This style of shovel construction remained in German service up until WW2, when the Germans again changed the construction a bit.  The "wrap-around hybrid ring" was eliminated, as well as the folded over ears that were riveted.  Many of the older M1898 shovels remained in service, but next generation shovels were constructed to the new style, beginning some time in the late 1930's.  At this time the Germans also eliminated the rivets on the blade, and instead started spot welding them.

Earlier I stated that this shovel was a "German-Finnish-Russian" shovel.  Well, here is the story this particular shovel tells, and how I came to figure that out.

The blade of the shovel is uniquely, a Model 1898 pattern, German shovel.

The handle is a bit shorter than shovels of this era, by a little over an inch or more.  The handle is also an Imperial Russian style handle.  The German handles had a "ball end" and the Russian handles had a taper, without ball end.  Finland repaired old captured shovels, and surplus shovels, using the "Russian" style handles, and as far as I know, they were the only country to do so.

The blade is stamped with a partial "SA" stamp that matches the Finland Army shovel stamps used on re-issued shovels.  It also has the distinctive Finland, "P" stamp, indicating "pioneer".  The blade is not punched with a hole though, like most Finland re-issues.

So, with those clues, we can deduce this shovel's story.  Here is how I see it.

This shovel started out its service in the German Army, before, and definitely during, WW1.  After the war, in the 1920's, Finland acquired a large amount of old WW1, German surplus equipment, mostly helmets, ammo pouches and shovels.  This shovel would have been one of those 1920's acquisitions.
After the German surplus shipments arrived in Finland, they went to a refurbishment and repair facility.  This shovel must have had a damaged handle, and it was replaced with a new handle, or a handle salvaged off of an Imperial Russian shovel.  Finland was using Imperial Russian shovels acquired from their break with Russia in 1918 at the time, so a Russian style handle would have made sense for a repair like this.  After the shovel was refurbished, it was stamped with the "SA" acceptance stamp, and the "P",  for pioneer unit use.  It would have then been issued out to the "new" Finland Army (Finland was expanding, "modernizing" and reequipping, her army with "new" equipment during this time).
In 1939, Russia invaded Finland, and the Winter War was on.  This shovel would have seen service in that war.  Shortly after the Winter War, the Continuation War with Russia began, and this shovel would have seen continued service during that time as well.  After the war, the Finland Army continued to use, and issue, the old equipment that was acquired during the 1920's, from the old German WW1 surplus, and from Russian captures from the 1918 break, The Winter War, and Continuation War.  So, this shovel would have seen service after the wars, during the Cold War.  Some time in the 1970's to 1990's, most of the old small equipment was sold as surplus.  A lot of it found it's way to the USA, and was sold in military surplus stores.  It was during it's layover in a US surplus store, that it was acquired by the seller's father, and then came to rest in his barn.  The shovel then found it's way to me after the previous owner's death.  And that is the "shovel story" as I see it, based on the "reading of the clues"!  Of course we will never know the exact details of its story, but I am 99% certain that the story I am telling fits.  We call that "Historical Interpretation".

Just to recap, here is a list of the "Finland" clues:

• WW1, German surplus shovels were acquired by Finland in the 1920's.
• The handle has been replaced with a Russian style handle, typical of Finland repairs.
• The blade is stamped with the Finland "SA" and "P" stamps.
• The shovel was found in the US, paired with a positively identified Finland reissue shovel.

It should be noted that a portion of the early shovels that Finland acquired in the 1920's were never punched with a hole in the blade.  Most of them were, but quite a few were not.  This lends a little bit more evidence that this shovel was part of the 1920's, WW1 surplus acquisition by Finland.

You can check out some of my other Finland reissue shovels here:

https://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2020/01/finland-entrenching-tool-shovel-re.html

https://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2015/10/imperial-russian-finish-re-issue-trench.html

https://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2019/12/finland-entrenching-tool-spade-shovel.html

Now let's take a closer look at this very unique shovel.  I hope you enjoyed the "story"!

Imperial Japanese Army Type 98 Entrenching Tool, Shovel - Spade, 1917 Wood Shaft Handle, 1941 - 1945, WW2, P.T.O Pacific Theater of Operations, South Pacific, IJA Japan

Today we'll be taking a look at one of the most unique military entrenching tools that, in my opinion, has ever been issued to an army at war.

This shovel is the Imperial Japanese Army, Type 98, entrenching tool.  It may appear to be simple, but as you will see, it is actually quite unique and clever!

Initially, back in 1887, Japan introduced their first entrenching tool.  It was a copy of the German, Model 1874, square bladed, feldspaten spade of the time.  
In 1888, Japan introduced a round bladed, Engineer's Shovel.  This shovel had a removable blade that was held in place with a wooden peg.  After a short time of field use, it was soon realized that there were some serious problems with this "peg method" of attaching the handle and blade.
The shovel was redesigned to use rings and a rope to attach the two together, and several handle lengths were trialed.
In 1917, a final design was settled on and the new method of attaching the two parts together was a length of rope, with a hole in the blade corner and a hole in the handle.  The wood handle also took on a very "German" style, with a ball end.

After Japan's invasion of China, the Imperial Japanese Army again reevaluated the shovel design.  From 1937 - 1938, some very unique changes were made, and the new shovel was designated the Type 98 Entrenching Tool.  Starting in 1941, and into 1945, these Type 98 shovels were produced and issued.  They were used alongside the earlier versions in the field.

The most obvious change to the Type 98 was the addition of two small "eye holes" in the blade.  The handle profile was also changed.

You can read a very detailed history of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) entrenching tools here.  This reference includes details from the Japanese archives, illustrations, measurements, Japanese terms, and design details that you will not find anywhere else.  In short, it's the best I've seen!

http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/evolution-japanese-infantrymana-s-entrenching-tool-1887-1945-a-753444/

Before we get started with a detailed look at my shovel, let me point out the most unique features of this entrenching tool.  The two "eye holes" and the angled cut to the handle socket on the blade.

 These IJA shovel blades were intended for digging, and as a form of personal armor.  That's right, armor!
To use the blade as armor, it was removed from the handle and driven vertically into the ground, using the shaft socket as a the "spike". 

The soldier could then lay prone, flat on the ground, behind the blade, and use the two eye holes to look through.   Getting hit with a rifle round or shrapnel, while looking through the "eye holes" would give a whole new meaning to getting your "bell rung"!
It is interesting to note that while looking through the holes, your nose tucks perfectly into the hollow at the base of the socket.  A very unique design to say the least!

My shovel was obtained from an estate liquidation sale down in Southern California.  I will never know the story of how it ended up in an old California barn, unfortunately, but it is more than probable that it was used in the Pacific Theater of Operations, the South Pacific Islands, during WW2.  These shovels were popular with the British troops, and probably with a few of the US troops as well.  It may very well have come home with a US soldier, as a souvenir at the end of the war.  Who knows, maybe it was an Iwo Jima or Guadalcanal battlefield pick-up.

My shovel is a combination of a Type 98 blade, and the earlier, 1917 handle style.  The original rope is missing, so a display replacement will have to be fabricated.

The shovel blade appears to have had a bit of fire damage on the end portion of the blade, and then was subjected to some rusting after the paint burned off.  

The handle was weathered gray, and had seen it's fair share of exposure, and drying.

The only "restoration" that I did to the shovel, was to remove the loose rust from the blade, oil the metal, and apply a nourishing coat of Danish Oil to the wood handle. 

My shovel is unmarked, so I compared the weights, and measurements with known originals.  Mine matches the measurements perfectly, and the weight was within a gram or two.  Perfect match, an original!  The replicas that have been produced all weigh significantly less than originals.  You can get details on the reference link I provided above.

Before we get into the photo album of my IJA Type 98 shovel, I thought I'd do a little, side-by-side comparison of the Japanese, US, and British entrenching tools.  These were the three tools that saw service in the South Pacific Islands.  It is easy to see why the British troops often picked up the IJA Type 98 shovels.  The small size, and awkward stye, of the British "pick-hoe-shovel", just couldn't compare to the usefulness of the IJA shovel!  

The US entrenching tool was similar in style, but lighter and smaller.  The US soldiers seemed to prefer their own issue shovels, unlike a number of their British counterparts.

I know this has been a lengthy post, so let's get on with the photo album. Enjoy.