I've seen this on a number of blades. Sometimes the forward part of the wedge has been filed intentionally but some look like the blade did the filing. and sometimes also the outside edges have been sanded flush..
It seems like a high % of my French blades have been rescaled at some point with the wrong sized scales because they were horn, yet too small..
The broken blade is always sad to see. The ones I've seen usually are broken just like that.
Nice shorty Mike! Did you seal the scales with anything?