Description

Australian Prototype Owen Gun knife bayonet by Lysaght in 1942 – Green painted wooden slab grips. A rare item showing some wear but no damage. Grips are not marked/ stamped as this bayonet is one of the first produced. G.S. Wardell, Chief Engineer at the Lysaght Works, produced 20 copies of two soft covered book volumes in 1985 entitled:

1. THE DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE OF THE OWEN GUN and
2. THE OWEN GUN, AN ANALYSIS OF EVENTS

The two volumes I have (20 copies only ever produced) are Wardell’s own copies and signed by him. A photograph in the second book shows the bayonet without stamping to the grips. Also in the Australian War Memorial two of their examples do not have stampings to the grips. Photos are included for reference and the links to the website are as follows:

1. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/REL31074.002/screen/3845417.JPG
2. https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RELAWM30622.010/screen/3828465.JPG

The scabbard is the first type of brown leather with five rivets. It is still in good condition but whilst the retaining strap is complete it is broken.

(Reference BCB A15).