1908 Experimental Entrenching Tool Designed by Marine Corps Commandant George Elliott

The entrenching tool is approximately 23-1/2 inches long in its present configuration, with the shovel blade at a 45 degree angle. The handle is maker marked by the “Sub Target Gun Co.”. The entrenching tool blade shows age and patina, while the wooden handle exhibits typical pock marks from use but it is without cracks or damage. The shovel blade does not seem to be adjustable, suggesting that an internal mechanism in the handle to permit adjustment of the blade is no longer working. The entrenching tool was designed and patented by U.S. Marine Corps Brigadier General and Corps Commandant George F. Elliott, with the patent being granted in 1908. The entrenching tool was apparently manufactured in at least some limited numbers, and they were then distributed to both the Army and the Marine Corps for trial use, but ultimately it was not adopted, with the military opting for the T-handled shovel that would be standard issue by the time of World War I.