The Zacharias Fighter is arguably the most iconic knife Randall ever made. It was the original DNA for the Model #1 All Purpose Fighting Knife and the military models that followed. Bo Randall's WW2 fighting knives are what started the legend.

Bob Gaddis writes in his book that Army Lt. James H. Zacharias came to Bo in mid 1942 requesting a combat knife. Bo and the Lt. penciled out a knife designed to slash and thrust, yet be tough enough to open cans, ammo boxes and handle any other field duty required.

According to Gaddis on June 15, 1942, Bo logged his order book with "1 special made Jap sticker", then in November 1942 and January 1943 he logged a total of 3 more for Lt. Zacharias )a total of 4). There is a picture of a Zacharias style fighter on page 67. No one knows if the pictured knife is one of the original 4, but it's obviously a very early knife. There is a lot more detail in Bob's book and I encourage you to get it. Well worth the money.

Joe Dorsky has seen and handled the original Zach. The Lt.'s family still has the knife, but Joe was able to take some pictures which follow. They are iPhone pictures of paper pictures.

Things to note:

-It is a double pinned stag handle
-The finger grips are on the top for an edge up fighting grip
-The choil is a double step, very similar to the pre-war hunters
-The sheath is a Clarence Moore, but it has had additional lacing added to the edges
-The blade is "fullered" (some called it a blood groove)
-The hilt is asymmetrical with a teardrop shaped lower quillon
-Lt. Zacharias' initials are carved in the butt and filled with some sort of red material

Here are the 4 photos of the original:









Based on the people I have asked, this is the only known example of the original 4 knives...... Until now.

First, some well deserved recognition. Full credit for bringing this knife to the Randall collecting community goes to Burnie Austin. I will put Burnie's "bird dogging" up against anybody. The man knows how to find knives!!!

This knife turned up in an obscure gun auction. All I know at this point is the man recently passed and the family auctioned his guns and this knife. The auction house would not give me his name, but did verify that he was a Marine and his Initials were J.R.C. I am fairly certain he was the original owner of the knife. The auction company has forwarded my contact info to the family, so there may be more forthcoming.

Things to note:

-It is a double pinned stag handle
-The finger grips are on the top for an edge up fighting grip
-The choil is a double step, very similar to the pre-war hunters
-The sheath is a Clarence Moore which was obviously custom made to match the hilt
-The hilt is asymmetrical with a teardrop shaped lower quillon
-Initials are carved in the butt and filled with some sort of red material

















I can't prove it, but I am convinced that this is one of the first 4 knives based on the matching initials in the butts. Could these two knives have been together in WW2 when two servicemen personalized them with identical red block initials? Perhaps I will hear from the family and be able to tie the owner's record with that of Lt. Zacharias. We'll see.

Obviously I am very proud and excited to add this knife to my collection and again, I owe Burnie Austin a big thanks.

Superb find. Congratulations. Great story. Between you and Burnie, you COULD find a needle in a haystack!!!

Thank you Tune and I'll say again the knife is where it belongs! I'm happy to see it with someone who really appreciates it for what it is.

Awesome knife and find! That is a SCORE! Definitely where it belongs and I can't wait to here what Tune finds out from the family.

Incredible.

Speechless....

Except for those who wonder about edge-up, the hardest way you can hit with a knife, aside from a stab/thrust, is slashing with the leading edge of the point rather than the trailing sharpened edge. Normally this done in back cut, which is weak for most. This design gave back cut power to normal moves. Not a bad idea if trained up.

My take on this knife.

First, I think it is one of the most significant if not the most significant Randall to ever come to market. Only a handful of knives like this were made in my opinion, I believe partly due to the knife having a less "utilitarian" usability as Zacharias had originally wanted in a knife. It is a pure fighting knife, not designed to be held right side up, finger grooves in the wrong orientation, not really comfortable to to held other that how Bo designed it as was his preferred fighting method with edge up.

I do not believe at this time that Zacharias received more than one like this. In fact, it could be a push that he received any more than the first one out of stag. Bo switched to leather exclusively in November of 1942, the same month of the second knife going to Zacharias. Don't know for sure but will try and find out. I would bet there is no way his third and fourth knife ordered were anything other than leather.

I own the 28th knife listed in Bo's journal that was delivered 7 January 1943, and it is a far different knife than we see here. It is listed as a "Throwing Commando" and appears larger than what I can see of Tune's knife. Leather finger grooves no thong. Handle is relatively small which makes sense because Bo had smaller hands. In any case, quite a contrast but the point is that by the very beginning of 1943, the change had already been made with blade grind, orientation of knife, handle material, etc. Interesting also is that first 6 month period, Bo made 28 knives, a minuscule amount to what would be coming out of the shop in the next 6 months and beyond.

One other point that remains unclear is exactly who put the initials in the butt of both of the knives. Right now I am leaning towards Bo.

There is more to come on this piece and its appearance has encouraged a few of us to dig a little bit and see what we can find out about this early period in the summer/fall of 1942.

I can't say how happy I am not only for Mitchell but the collecting community in general that this knife rose to the surface and now is there for all to see.

This is one of the nicest Randall's I have ever seen. Truly a remarkable piece of history and I'm glad you have it in your collection. Thank you for sharing and I know you will give it a good home.

Spectacular knife, it couldn't be in more deserving hands. Congratulations go out to both Mitchell and Burnie. And that folks, is the definition of a rare knife.

Thanks for all the kind words guys, it's very exciting!!


Joe, I knew you had #28, but I didn't realize that it was made January of 43.

I would love to see Bo's sales ledger for that 6 month period.

Joe, this knife blade is 8-5/16" long and the handle is 4-5/8". It is 1/4" stock for sure.