Hand Tools -Broad Arrow marked

[Ubique]

Over the years searching through swap meetings (auto jumbles) and the odd garage sale (yard sale) I have turned up a few tools marked with the broad arrow and a year showing that they were once used by the defence forces. Here are some of them:



At the top is a Spoke Shave used for giving a round profile to a length of timber such as wagon wheel spokes and chair legs. This one is faintly marked "John Wilson, Sheffield Pty Ltd 1943" and also bears an inspectors stamp "[broad arrow] 44". Next is an 8" long screw driver stamped "[Broad arrow] C&S Ltd 1945" and on the other side "7/2250". Then there is a spanner 5/16 X 1/4 Whitworth marked "[Broad arrow] DROPSTAMPCO. 1952"



If I had a Man Cave then these two little rippers would have a prominent position. The left one is a "British Made King Dick H.2418 1954 [Broad arrow]" and may have been part of an equipment toolkit. The other is simply marked "War Finish" and on the other side "Abingdon" "Rd No 76550" indicating that this was also made by Abingdon King Dick Pty Ltd. They are about 4 & 1/2" long. I was lucky to find them in excellent condition and keep them well oiled.



Lastly my ex-army pick which is stamped "WG [Broad arrow] 1942" This has a much narrower helve (handle) than current picks making it lighter for transportation. Anyone know what company W.G. represents?

Feel free to add pictures of your army/wartime tools here.

Cheers,
Oz.

[Warspite]

This is my WD stamped cobbler's knife

Billhook

And a small 1944 dated WD marked spanner

I have a few more, but no photos to hand. It's always worth hunting through boxes of tools to find these.

[Jerry B]

I see spanners, adjustables, pliers etc for sale fairly often but I resist the temptation, though I can see the appeal.

I have a WD marked and 1943 dated shovel which is the closest thing I have.

[Ubique]

Great pics Warspite. How did you come across those?

Oz.

[Warspite]

Second hand markets and boot sales mainly, the bill hook wasn't cheap, but the others were a pound or two

[DrPMC]

I have quite a few spanners and sockets marked with the broad arrow. I bought them from a local surplus shop in the 1980s to use on my British motorbikes, as they were cheap but high quality tools in imperial sizes. Decent sockets and spanners were usually expensive at the time.

Philip

[Roger M]

I wish I could say that I had found some Australian or New Zealand tools over here but I just find British, American and Canadian. I have found 1 Australian pig sticker bayonet though. Tools have been my main point of interest up until now (primarily US ww2 mechanics tools).

Here are some pics of my US Motor Vehicle Mechanics Tool Set in an authentic box. The US tools are easy to identify as they are much better quality than the British although they are not generally dated to the same extent as British/Commonwealth. The era of the tools have to be judged by finish, logo possible date code and manufacturer. Some are marked with the Federal Stock Number but this is not necessarily war time proof as they were marked into the 1950's with this. I wont go into too much detail here as it is a subject on its own.

[Roger M]

If you collect tools you will also need a bag to put them in. The bag on the right was my Grandfathers and went in every car he ever had after the war. Both of these are WD marked but I have not made out a date .My Grandfathers is WD marked on the outside on the top flap and is cut into the leather. A metal tray is in the base and the leather is reinforced with cardboard. The left hand bag is ink stamped inside, again on the top flap. Later bags are much more sand coloured and are often made by Remploy.


This is a very poor example of a canvas tool Valise. It is reinforced with a stiff fibreboard.

[Tinhat]

Does anyone want a 1939 broad arrow marked tap wrench?
I don't want anything for it. I'm probably on the wrong side planet to make it sensible, but worth asking.





Steve

[brickie501]

I don't have Jerry B's resolve! However, I was lucky enough to pick up this toolbox (marked with Broad Arrow & "7583" but no date), & its contents, for £5 at a car boot sale



The contents aren't a cohesive set & they weren't all Broad Arrow tools but it was a great haul & I've managed to recoup that purchase price a couple of times over by selling the surpluses on a certain auction website


The lot included a number of the "Snail Brand" Imperial combination spanners & a similar "tap wrench" to Tinhat's. Visible dates range from 1943 to the late 50's, with some of my favourites being another example of a 'shoe' knife, plus the folding file/tool & round-nose pliers shown below. Even the tobacco tins used to store odds & ends were HM Ships stock!

The 'Jack' knives were separate buys at the same car boot, but they kind of fit in this thread too! They also show that the Broad Arrow is still present on some UK-issued items even now - check the 2007 lock knife on the right.


I've also since re-discovered a bigger item from my late Grandad's hoard of "things that might come in handy one day":


...plus I've bought some appropriate additions since this first 'win'; including 2 sizes of the Lucas 'Girder' adjustable spanners (markings are indistinct as they've had a bit of a hard life but I think these are just "War Finish" rather than Broad Arrow). Apologies for the particularly poor photo:


I believe the toolbox number "7583" may refer to a particular use / trade / series of tools, as does the "AP 54996" on a couple of the 'hook spanners'. I've searched to no avail - please can anyone that knows about such things help to identify the specific use / equipment scale of these references?