A Rare WW2 Japanese Jungle Sword, ‘Heiho’ Made from a Captured Dutch Sword

Under German occupation itself, the Netherlands had little ability to defend its colony against the Japanese army, and less than three months after the first attacks on Kalimantan the Japanese navy and army overran Dutch and allied forces, ending 300 years of Dutch colonial presence in Indonesia. A lot of their weaponry was captured, and some were converted for use by the Imperial Japanese Army. The Dutch cutlass or klewang was one such weapon. These Japanese adapted weapons have very distinctive features such as the cutlass bowl hilt being removed, and the swords were then re-issued to the Japanese forces for use in the Jungles of Burma etc. They are very scarcely seen rare items these days and highly sought after. There is a near identical example to be seen in the British Royal Maritime Collection.

Code: 16852