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Case 75 pattern knives unusual inscriptions.

I have a couple of late 80’s Case 75 pattern knives that have some interesting inscriptions and I am hoping the combined knowledge here on the forum may be able to throw some light on where/why/how/who etc.

I purchased these in the mid 90’s at a custom knife show in Sydney Australia – Note that Case knives have never been commonly available here (and still aren’t) so I swooped on these. I am assuming they had been brought in from the USA or perhaps left here gifted to someone by an American serviceman (only conjecture by me)

First is a 6375 Jumbo Stockman – 4 ¼ inch Red Bone with squared bolsters. Standard Stockman blade configuration the main clip blade has “CASE XX TESTED CENTENNIAL 1889 1989” Etched on it.

On the back spring the following is inscribed… “R.W.H. DE OPPRESSO LIBER” De Oppresso Liber being the US Army Special Forces motto The RWH could be someone’s initials (?) or could be a Unit of the Special Forces (?)

The Second knife is a 6275 4 ¼ inch with black (?) bone scales, squared bolsters the ricaso is stamped

“CASE XX ….. (5 dots) USA” with the “S” being like a lightning bolt

Two blades the standard Clip and a long Spay I think it is called the “Moose” version. This has the same “R.W.H. DE OPPRESSO LIBER” on the back spring but then to add to the Questions the front bolster has “OYATE” on one side and “TYOSPAYE” on the other side.

MR GOOGLE tells me these are probably Lakota Indian words Oyate meaning “The People” and “Tyospaye” “Extended family or family circle” Note the Tyospaye is possibly a miss-spelling of Tiyospaye. (????)

Both Knives have some minor scratches unfortunately but are in pretty good condition considering their age.

Can anyone here flesh out the story of these knives for me? Has anyone come across the inscriptions before? Any suggestions/information would be appreciated.

I have more pictures which I will post soon - also once we are done with this I have another nice "Case Brothers" Stockman from 1996 to throw up for discussion

Tags: Case

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Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on October 3, 2014 at 0:37

More Photos sorry about the sun glare this is the best I could do

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 3, 2014 at 11:39

I happen to see this while Steve Wells was in the chat this morning and this was his opinion of how it could be there

Steve wells

well I know the SF moto but not the other and we were out of Vetnam in 1975 so it was done in the 80's-- Austriala had its on SF that work with the American SF in the tet offensive. so maybe it was an American SF had it done and gave as a gift to a ole partner when they work together in Nam the Aus

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 3, 2014 at 16:19

IMHO, the words Oyate Tyospaye translates to mean you are now a part of my " Lakota extended family". R.W.H. are probably the recipients initials, but could also be meant to be "Return With Honor". Not a military acronym, but one possible meaning. RWH in military jargon stands for "Radar Warning and Homing" which would not make a lot of sense in this usage-US Special Forces had several joint ops with the Australian SAS in the Viet Nam war.My guess would be that a US Special Forces soldier of Lakota heritage, held in high regard a Australian SAS soldier, or possibly got his bacon saved by him-- This was probably his way of saying," you are now my brother from a different mother". As your knives are dated 1985 and 1989, they probably remained close after the war.You don't forget a war buddy, particularly if they saved your butt. Conjecture, sure, but that is why I led this off with IMHO.

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Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on October 3, 2014 at 16:59

John McCain said:

IMHO, the words Oyate Tyospaye translates to mean you are now a part of my " Lakota extended family". R.W.H. are probably the recipients initials, but could also be meant to be "Return With Honor". Not a military acronym, but one possible meaning. RWH in military jargon stands for "Radar Warning and Homing" which would not make a lot of sense in this usage-US Special Forces had several joint ops with the Australian SAS in the Viet Nam war.My guess would be that a US Special Forces soldier of Lakota heritage, held in high regard a Australian SAS soldier, or possibly got his bacon saved by him-- This was probably his way of saying," you are now my brother from a different mother". As your knives are dated 1985 and 1989, they probably remained close after the war.You don't forget a war buddy, particularly if they saved your butt. Conjecture, sure, but that is why I led this off with IMHO.

Jan... John Thanks for taking the time to reply and John for dating the other knife for me (I was unsure of the Case dating system) Also Steve Wells for his input - no relation that I am aware of - unless Granddad Wells got around a bit ;-)

Hopefully the conversation will continue to role along and someone may bob up with some further information.

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Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on October 4, 2014 at 10:57

I'll add a bit of obvious information about the Centennial knife, just in case the obvious isn't always obvious. As I recall, the Centennial knife sets were composed of 100 knives of various patterns. As you know, sets are very pricey, and a set of 100 would be out of the reach of many. So, some of the sets were broken up by whoever purchased them and sold individually. I have seen only two handle materials for these knife sets, jigged red bone - yours, and stag.

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Permalink Reply by Derek Wells on October 4, 2014 at 16:18

Thanks Howard - I was totally unaware of that.

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Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on October 6, 2014 at 9:54

Derek,

I should have used "readily available" information instead of "obvious" information, as it is pretty easy to look up the Centennial knife sets. I read somewhere that in 1989 the set of 100 knives cost $5,000. U.S. In 2014 dollars, that's about $9,500., so only a few collectors could have bought them. The rest, I imagine, were bought by "investors" - knife shops that could turn around the $5,000. investment quickly by breaking up the set to sell by the piece. Also, I would guess that the Stag set cost more than the jigged red bone set, but don't know for sure.

Derek Wells said: