Photos Axe Identification?

J

JonnyT

Joined
Jun 13, 2018
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5
I've recently took possession of my grandfathers old axe and I'm planning on doing a faithful restoration at some point soon.

I've not seen a small axe like this before with the blade on one side and a pointed pickaxe end on the other. I was hoping you all might be able to tell me what type of axe this is? What would it typically be used for?

I appreciate there's not much sense of scale in the pictures but it is a smaller axe, definitely more hatchet sized, designed for single-handed use.

IMG_9039_zpspgjwziuu.jpg

IMG_9040_zpsv95pturx.jpg

IMG_9041_zpsflmoyirh.jpg

IMG_9042_zpsvrf6ityq.jpg
 
flexo said:
looks like a german fireman hatchet
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Having done an image search for "fireman's hatchet" I'm inclined to agree with you, but I have no idea why my grandfather would own one. He was a miner all his life and a warden during the second world war.
 
Steve Tall said:
The Brades catalogue (1934) calls it a Fireman's hatchet.
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You guys got me thinking about this whole fireman’s axe thing, so when I got home after work today I grabbed the hatchet and took it out back with some warm water and a scouring pad to give it a good scrub.

In doing so I found the following:
7CA77450-979A-49D1-B62E-0171B57E5CC2_zpsapwymi1a.jpg

“London AFS 6332”

Apparently this is from the “London Auxiliary Fire Service”

My grand parents (and the rest of my family) are from the North East of England so I have no idea how this axe has made its way into my grandfathers possession all the way up North in the late 1930’s.
 
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