Original Item: Acquired in IMA’s the recent exclusive purchase from the Finnish Army. These Imperial Russian shovels, or trench spades, were a surprise. Imported from Finland we expected Finish shovels and while these do bear SA (Finnish Army) markings they also bear Imperial Russian markings, ranging from double-headed eagles, to makers codes, and amazingly they bear WWI or Pre-WWI dates!
The shovel heads have a distinctive nine-rivet configuration, with wood shaft, steel wishbone handle and wood grip. The heads have the distinctive hole in the upper corner, a classic attribute of the Finnish army to allow the shovel to be attached to a backpack while troops were on the move.
Styles vary slightly, as does appearance, paint, finish, but all are in sound usable condition. All measure approximately 25-27 inches in length. Please see photos for style variations. All shovels will be Russian marked with dates (some very faint), but for clear WWI dates please choose special hand select and be sure to write your request. Very rarely, these will have a visible Imperial Russian Double-headed eagle marking, however we cannot honor requests for these.