Fairbairn Sykes Fighting Knife with Sheath - First a short bit of history on the knife : The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is a double-edged knife with a foil grip developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes in Shanghai before World War II, but made famous during the War when issued to British Commandos, including the SAS. The Wilkinson Sword Company made the knife with minor pommel and grip design variations; currently, the F-S Fighting Knife is of interest mainly to collectors, but it remains in production because of its sleek appearance and historical associations. The knife is strongly associated with the British commandos and the US OSS and Marine Raiders , among other special forces / clandestine / raiding units. It features in the insignia of the British Royal Marines, the Dutch Commando Corps, founded in the UK during World War II, the Australian 2nd Commando Regiment, and the United States Army Rangers. A solid gold F-S Fighting Knife is part of the commandos' memorial at Westminster Abbey.
The first batch of fifty F-S Fighting Knives were produced in January 1941 by Wilkinson Sword Ltd after Fairbairn and Sykes had traveled down to their factory from the Special Training Centre at Lochailort in November 1940 to discuss their ideas for a fighting knife.
My knife was originally my fathers, I have no idea where he got it from or whether its an original, all I know
is its definitely old, the sheath however is a modern reproduction, made the same way as the originals and as far as I am aware made by the same companies that made the old ones too.
The blade on the knife is also slightly shorter than it should be because as a teenager I used to mess around with it and managed to break off the tip on two occasions.
Dimensions : Overall length 11" Blade: 6", Handle: 5" Sheath is leather and steel.
Please leave a comment below letting me know what you think! Thanks.
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