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P1907 Lithgow Carving Set

Article about: My mate sent this interesting article , to put in the strange but true basket. Ive seen plenty of Lithgow P1907's fashioned into knives , but never a Meat Carving Set Aussie ingenuity at it'

  1. #1
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    Default P1907 Lithgow Carving Set

    My mate sent this interesting article , to put in the strange but true basket.
    Ive seen plenty of Lithgow P1907's fashioned into knives , but never a Meat Carving Set
    Aussie ingenuity at it's best
    Cheers Rick

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  2. #2

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    A strange story indeed, especially as by using bayonet parts suspicion would always fall on factory employees. Obviously not the sharpest blades in the scabbard.

  3. #3

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    If caught, I would've claimed they were new prototypes I was working on!!

    ....the carving fork tines would leave intriguing perforations on an enemy soldier, and the steel would punch a neat hole right through
    " I'm putting off procrastination until next week "

  4. #4
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    The article appears to have come from a story in Smiths Weekly in 1923 recounting a story from the war (maybe wartime as opposed to Post-war). And mentions the booty was hidden in the Lithgow Dam. I have snipped part of the article (screen not big enough for the whole article sorry, but you can look it up on the Trove website).

    P1907 Lithgow Carving Set

  5. #5

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    Quote by Ubique View Post
    The article appears to have come from a story in Smiths Weekly in 1923 recounting a story from the war (maybe wartime as opposed to Post-war). And mentions the booty was hidden in the Lithgow Dam. I have snipped part of the article (screen not big enough for the whole article sorry, but you can look it up on the Trove website).

    P1907 Lithgow Carving Set
    A worthy candidate for channel Nine's "Under Investigation" !!!
    " I'm putting off procrastination until next week "

  6. #6

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    A very interesting set and probably a collectible antique in it's own right.

    As stated above this type of thing was not uncommon in the UK as far back as the Napoleonic Wars with war surplus being "re-purposed" or "upcycled" before such awful terms (don't mention "Shabby Chic"!!) became buzz-words. Not in Australia it seems and I can't help but think that a great commercial marketing opportunity was missed if there was a surplus of brand new and un-needed stock.

    At the time I should think that professionally done using such high quality material (which was already paid for and therefore a "dead asset") would have surely sold to make a far healthier profit than as scrap metal?

    Thanks for posting this intriguing story.

    Reagrds

    Mark

    PS A great 20th century take on "beat your swords into ploughshares"
    Last edited by Watchdog; 03-21-2021 at 12:07 PM. Reason: ps
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

  7. #7

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    Lithgow SAF was forced to make all sorts of products between the wars and after WW2 to keep the workforce employed-ash trays to lawn mowers as well as civilian conversions of the SMLE design as hunting/target rifles-there was also the making of assorted prototype fighting knives out of bayos that failed the bend test etc. It should be noted that 5 quid was real money in post war Oz, not a trivial fine!
    Click to enlarge the picture Click to enlarge the picture P1907 Lithgow Carving Set  

  8. #8
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    very interesting.

  9. #9

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    Quote by lithgow View Post
    It should be noted that 5 quid was real money in post war Oz, not a trivial fine!
    Absolutely, given that the article appears to originate around 1923 it was a serious amount to be fined. Just after WWI the average wage in UK as well as Australia was a shade over four quid (£3. 4s. 02p according to some data and if I have my sums right!) so £5 was actually more than a weeks wage. I doubt it had changed much by 1945 either.

    Today you don't get that for burglary or violence at the ABH level.

    Depending on the perceived breach of trust, actual material loss etc these days a smart idea would be to admonish the employees / impose a local penalty such as loss of seniority / promotion then take up the idea to deal with surplus and make a profit.

    That of course assumes that the stock was not under government ownership in which case as we know it should just be left to rot on principle

    Regards

    Mark
    "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares more about than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature with no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

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