Balilla knives

[chuck303]

hi guys i am in need of help ,

i have seen a ww2 or ww1 italian political or military group named or called 'balilla' i have seen certain cuff titles or cockade insignias marked as such.
i would like to get a basic on who they were and what purpose they served in italy, i am unsure if its a post ww1 group or????

also i am really trying to help my friend identify some knife marked as such - 'BALILLA'
what the knives may have been for. if i were t take a stab at it,, say say field knives and utility knives for military?

i know in the field sometimes odd things can help from a penny to a pocket knife.

does anyone have an example as shown in this picture of these said knives ,and can possibly show me a knife similar???
thanks


<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=122ks8z" target="_blank"><img src="http://i40.tinypic.com/122ks8z.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

[DrPMC]

Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) was the Italian Fascist youth organization, equivalent of the Hitler Youth in Germany. Wikipedia has some basic information, I don't know if there are any authoritative books in English - the literature on Fascism in Italy is relatively sparse in languages other than Italian.

[chuck303]

i have seen the onb sleeve insignias etc, also have done abit of reading. i have tryed to look into italian websites and books. it seems i may have alot of translation work to do

[chuck303]

so does anyone collect anything youth ONB? i would like to see some examples of uniforms, gear, etc??

[GIZMO8Z]

My grandfather was in the ONB

[DrPMC]

My grandfather was in the ONB

You have a very interesting family history - thank you for sharing it. I read the thread about Adolf Hasse too. It's great that these marvelous photos have survived all the upheavals between then and now. Do you have any more details about when the picture was taken or any others in a similar vein?

[GIZMO8Z]

Hi folks, Thanks for the kind words!

My grandfather was born 1931... I am assuming he was about 5 years old in that photo... so 1936?

That photo was taken in our village of Petilia Policastro in the region of Calabria. The older girl in that photo is my Aunt Anastasia

[chuck303]

super cool guys, my grandparents are from sicily and were little fasciast's as well. cute picture. i would love to see more .
i wonder if your grandfather had maybe been given one of the knives i have asked about at start of the thread ....
i will try to re size the photos , they are small knives marked balilla

[rra227]

My ONB stuff. Rich A. in Pa.

[GIZMO8Z]

My grandfather was in the ONB

A member on gunboards fixed this photo for me