A/F Related History
This page of information and pictures was originally on the A/F page. I have moved this information to a separate page in order to get the A/F pages focus back to that of the BlackJack rendition of the A/F. However this information was too interesting to completely remove it from the site, but it did muddy up the focus of the main A/F page.
The pictures shown below were posted to the rec.knives forum in 1999 by William L. Cassidy.
This is an improvement of W.E. Fairbairn's original Smatchet design.
This is an example of
the ill fated Fairbairn-Millerson Cobra. This knife has features from
the first Shanghai model as well as at least two of W.E. Fairbairn's
other designs.
I believe this was the second version. Notice that this knife greatly differs from the version shown above.
It is my understanding that this is the final version of the knife. Notice that once again it differs greatly from the previous version.
As I stated on the A/F page, the A/F was designed to be an improvement on the older Fairbairn-Sykes knife. I have decided to include this history of the F/S by William Cassidy to give those who are not familiar with the F/S some background on the history of that knife this information originally appeared on both rec.knives and a web page which no longer exists.
"Each century of man's
useful habitation of earth has produced an edged weapon unique to that
century. A weapon which is emblematic to its age; upon which all
understanding of personal combat with edged weapons is focalized,
subjects to the needs and limitations of the society and civilization of
the time.
This evolutionary process (and it is indeed an evolutionary process, for
it has seen the development of edged weapons progress from stone through
bronze, and iron to steel), has reached its zenith in our own period, in
what students of edged weapons now recognize as the most influential
design of the twentieth century: the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.
To call the Fairbairn-Sykes a mere fighting knife is to do it a
disservice. The author prefers to think of the Fairbairn-Sykes as a
composition: the sine qua non of all edged weapons that preceded. I
know, after years of study, that its simplicity is only a mask for many
subtle manifestations of perfection.
The Fairbairn-Sykes is indeed a perfect composition. The story of how it
came to reach this perfection is to a significant degree the story of
its inventors, and to a lesser degree, of the International Settlement
at Shanghai in the decade 1930 to 1940; not so much a city as a state of
mind.
But we anticipate. Let us first examine the weapon itself.
The Fairbairn-Sykes is, in its essential form, a delicately constructed,
straight-bladed, double-edged weapon, with much of the dagger about it.
Of daggers, its blade most closely resembles that of the fourteenth
century baselard. Overall, the Fairbairn-Sykes is frequently, albeit
most incorrectly, compared to the mid-seventieth century Italian
stiletto.
Unlike the dagger or stiletto, which are intended for use as thrusting
weapons, the Fairbairn-Sykes is designed to exploit both of the two
properties of edged weapons, viz. thrusting, and cutting, or slashing.
The distinctive feature which lends this quality to the Fairbairn-Sykes
is its hilt. This hilt possesses a vase-like, cylindrical grip, not
unlike that of both the common rapier and left-hand dagger grips of the
seventeenth century English small sword (itself a refinement of the
rapier). The Fairbairn-Sykes grip owes its science to the principle of
use so admirably demonstrated by the cylindrical Italian foil grip: it
in no way limits the possibilities for the weapon's employment.
The guard of the Fairbairn-Sykes may also bespeak rapier and left-hand
dagger by the presence, in the first mass-produced model, of recurved
quillions (known to collectors as the S-guard, or wavy-guard model).
As originally produced in Shanghai, the Fairbairn-Sykes had a blade
6-1/4 inches long. As manufactured in Great Britain, 1941 to 1945, blade
length increased to between 6-1/2 inches and 6-7/8 inches. Today, one
finds British blades a full 7 inches in length.
With reference to blade length, it is interesting to note a report
regarding the specification of desirable bayonet designs, issued in 1924
by the Small Arms School at Hythe:
The Fairbairn-Sykes is, in its essential form, a delicately constructed,
straight-bladed, double-edged weapon, with much of the dagger about it.
Of daggers, its blade most closely resembles that of the fourteenth
century baselard. Overall, the Fairbairn-Sykes is frequently, albeit
most incorrectly, compared to the mid-seventieth century Italian
stiletto.
Unlike the dagger or stiletto, which are intended for use as thrusting
weapons, the Fairbairn-Sykes is designed to exploit both of the two
properties of edged weapons, viz. thrusting, and cutting, or slashing.
The distinctive feature which lends this quality to the Fairbairn-Sykes
is its hilt. This hilt possesses a vase-like, cylindrical grip, not
unlike that of both the common rapier and left-hand dagger grips of the
seventeenth century English small sword (itself a refinement of the
rapier). The Fairbairn-Sykes grip owes its science to the principle of
use so admirably demonstrated by the cylindrical Italian foil grip: it
in no way limits the possibilities for the weapon's employment.
The guard of the Fairbairn-Sykes may also bespeak rapier and left-hand
dagger by the presence, in the first mass-produced model, of recurved
quillions (known to collectors as the S-guard, or wavy-guard model).
As originally produced in Shanghai, the Fairbairn-Sykes had a blade
6-1/4 inches long. As manufactured in Great Britain, 1941 to 1945, blade
length increased to between 6-1/2 inches and 6-7/8 inches. Today, one
finds British blades a full 7 inches in length.
With reference to blade length, it is interesting to note a report
regarding the specification of desirable bayonet designs, issued in 1924
by the Small Arms School at Hythe:
"It has been conclusively proved during the war, and since, with our
present system of training in the bayonet, that 'reach' is not a main
factor but that 'handiness' is. A man with a short, handy weapon will
beat an equally skilled man with a long, cumbersome weapon practically
every time. As regards length of blade for killing purposes, the
Physical Training Staff went into this in considerable detail during the
war, and came to the conclusion that a 6-in. blade was sufficiently long
to deal with the most thickly clad of our enemies--potential or
otherwise. The most thickly clad of our enemies was taken as being a
Russian in winter clothing."
The grip of a typical, early mass-produced Fairbairn-Sykes is roughly 5
inches in length; cast and turned of brass, and knurled, to provide for
a secure grasp. Its diameter at the largest point is almost 1 inch, this
point being approximately 1-1/4 inches from the guard. Here, under
ordinary circumstances, the second finger of the hand will rest.
Point-of-balance in the weapon will be just slightly ahead of the second
finger, approximately 1 inch from the guard.
The grip tapers in both directions from the greatest diameter, toward
the guard until it reaches approximately 5/8 inch in diameter, and
toward the pommel until it reaches 1/2 inch in diameter. At the pommel
it flares larger, forming a small knob, which aids in withdrawing the
weapon from a scabbard. This is a most important feature. Atop this knob
there is a threaded pommel nut (with more than a dozen variations, 1941
to 1977), usually made of soft iron or brass. The pommel nut is used to
affix the grip and guard to the tang of the blade.
One questions the use of the so-called skull-crusher
pommel nut, which is reputedly of value for delivering blows to an
opponent's temple area. This type of pommel nut has never been
successfully employed with the Fairbairn-Sykes, owing to the proper
method the latter's use. Let us put it another way: striking one's
opponent with the pommel of one's knife is a dubious practice, the
fanciful notion of those who have no real experience with knife fighting. Why not stab the fellow and be done with
it?
The guard of the Fairbairn-Sykes is fashioned of 1/8 thick iron or
steel, 2-1/3 inches by 5/8 inch oval. Rarely, one encounters a 3 inch
specimen. As mentioned above, the first mass-produced type bore recurved
quillions. Post-1941, the recurved quillion guard was changed and made
more or less standard at 2 inches by 5/8 inch oval, struck flat.
Thickness of the guard remained at 1/8 inch.
Here, then, is what we could call a typical Fairbairn-Sykes: a
dagger-like cut and thrust weapon with a foil-like handle, 11-1/2 to 12
inches in overall length, weighing approximately 8 ounces.
Development
The Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife was developed in 1931, in the
International Settlement at Shanghai, China, by William Ewart Fairbairn
(b. 28 February 1885, d. 20 June 1960), assisted by his son, John Edwin
Fairbairn (b. 27 February 1914, d. 25 November 1977), and Eric Anthony
Sykes (b. 5 February 1883, d. 12 May 1945). The earliest known specimen
of a pre-Fairbairn-Sykes weapon that may have influenced the
Fairbairn-Sykes design is dated 1933; a presentation piece for W.E.
Fairbairn from two officers of the United States Marine Corps, Samuel S.
Yeaton, and Luther Samuel Moore. There are ten known specimens of this
design, known familiarly as the "Shanghai Model."
In 1931, both Fairbairn and his son were employed by the Shanghai
Municipal Police; the elder as superintendent in charge of the SMP
Reserve Unit: the legendary Shanghai Riot Squad. He also, in that same
year, established the SMP Police Armory, the first of its kind in the
East, placing it under the supervision of a former White Russian
colonel, Nicholas Solntseff.
Eric Anthony Sykes was a civilian. He was employed in Shanghai by the
S.J. David Company, estate agents, and held a reserve rank in the
Shanghai Municipal Police as sergeant in charge of the Sniper's Unit (a
volunteer organization of skilled marksmen).
Both Fairbairn and Sykes brought the accumulated experience of colorful
careers to bear upon the development of their weapon. W.E. Fairbairn
left home at age fifteen to join the Royal Marines (the recruiter
falsified his age), and spent the Russo-Japanese War in Seoul, Korea, as
a member of the British Legation guard. In 1907, at the age of
twenty-two, he joined the Shanghai Municipal Police, and was appointed
Musketry and Drill Instructor three years later.
In 1918, having awakened in a hospital ward after a tour of duty in
Shanghai's lawless brother district, Fairbairn sought and received
permission to pursue judo instruction; first with Professor Okada (a
sign in front of his studio proclaimed him a "Jui-Jitsu Instructor and
Bone Setter"), and later, Inspector Ohgushi, officer in charge of the
Japanese Branch of the SMP. On 18 February 1931, at forty-six years of
age, Fairbairn received a Black Belt, 2nd Degree, certified by the
famous Jogoro Kano, president of the Kodokan Jui-Jitsu Institution,
Tokyo, Japan.
E.A. Sykes, for his part, was a shikari of considerable experience, and
an uncommonly gifted marksman. Born in Great Britain under the name Eric
Anthony Schwabe, he saw service as a sniper in the First World War,
changing his name to Sykes because he allegedly found his true name too
Germanic. Sykes first made the acquaintance of Fairbairn in the late
1920s, and due to common interests and temperament, the two became fast
friends.
The clearest account of the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting
Knife comes to us from Fairbairn's son, Major John Edwin Fairbairn, OBE,
who participated in the process, and summarizes it by saying, "...it
began with a hunting knife, a very nice hunting knife, and we thought
what a lovely weapon this was. It was a picgsticking knife actually, but
we made our first knives from the tops of bayonets, there in the
armory."
The new fighting knife encompassed the principles of close-combat
Fairbairn and Sykes had learned from formal instruction, and from
several hundred, documented, armed and unarmed encounters with members
of the Shanghai underworld. It was small, it was equally efficient when
thrusting or slashing, and could be handled like a foil. Thus it was
particularly useful at close-quarters, when the parties had resorted to
wrestling, or blows.
The first Fairbairn-Sykes found special favor among the young officers
of the United States Marine Corps, then stationed in Shanghai. From time
to time, interested officers would stop by the SMP Police Armory, where
Colonel Solntseff could occasionally be persuaded to have his staff
produce a specimen by hand. Unfortunately, it is not known how many
knives were produced in this fashion, nor are any Shanghai-made
specimens (save one) known to survive.
The earliest known surviving example of a SMP Police Armory "Shanghai
Model" (not to be confused with the Fairbairn-Sykes SMP Armory model)
was presented to Fairbairn by Yeaton and Moore. It represents an attempt
by Yeaton and Moore to "improve" on the first Fairbairn-Sykes. Within
the Fairbairn family, this knife was referred to as the "Mexican Knife."
Samuel S. Yeaton's younger brother, Prof. Kelly Yeaton, collaborated
with Colonel Rex Applegate on a book describing their beliefs about the
role of Samuel Yeaton in the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes, and the
association of Kelly and Sam with Fairbairn personally. They also give
Samuel Yeaton joint author's status on the work, yet Samuel Yeaton died
before ever meeting Applegate.
Documentary evidence, the statements of Fairbairn's son and daughter,
the statements of SMP Police Armory personnel, and my own correspondence
with both Samuel and Kelly Yeaton lead me to conclude that Yeaton and
Moore played no immediate role in the inspiration for and development of
the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife. I believe that Yeaton greatly
influenced Fairbairn's thoughts on pistols, that he assisted the SMP
Police Armory, and that both he and Moore influenced Fairbairn's
evolution of the Shanghai School of knife fighting technique, but his
knife was the "Shanghai Model," also known in variation within the
Yeaton family as "Slith."
On 26 April 1977, Fairbairn's daughter wrote to me reference the
Yeaton-Moore issue. Miss Fairbairn served with the Special Operations
Executive during the war, and was herself skilled in close-combat. I
always found her to be a credible observer:
"Re Officers Yeaton and Moore... I believe the knife they gave to Dad
was of Mexican design and these two Officers showed Dad what they knew
of knife fighting."
The knife in question was delivered in 1933. On the obverse, the blade
is inscribed in block letters filled with Chinese gold: TO WILLIAM EWART
FAIRBAIRN / THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL. The reverse bears the names of
Yeaton and Moore, and the legend SHANGHAI 1933. The guard is incised
with a vine pattern, while the grip is of checkered buffalo horn (a
specialty of the SMP Police Armory workshop). The pommel bears a small
Chinese gold inset of the Shanghai Municipal Police crest. Inlay work
was done by a Japanese craftsman named Komai, who had a shop in the
Bubbling Well Road.
The grip, from guard to end of pommel, is
precisely 5 inches long. The blade, as mentioned previously, is 6-1/4
inches long. Overall the knife is 11-1/2 inches long, and weighs just
under six ounces.
W.E. Fairbairn is known to have carried this presentation knife in a
distinctive shoulder-scabbard. This scabbard, which allows the knife to
be held vertically beneath the arm (blade up, hilt down), is steel
reinforced for rigidity, and has built-in springs to hold the weapon
securely in place. The leather covering is tooled in a leaf pattern. The
rig was constructed by Jack Martin, of Berns-Martin fame, and is
currently in the possession of a British police official. The knife is
in the author's possession: a gift from Fairbairn's son and daughter.
In 1935, Fairbairn was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of the
Shanghai Municipal Police, and in the following year was appointed
officer in charge of the Armed and Training Reserve, and the Sikh
Branch. In this capacity he distinguished himself through the most
turbulent times in Shanghai's violent history, laying the foundation to
a legend which has survived to the present day.
On 3 September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany, an event that led
Fairbairn and Sykes to consider how best to contribute to the war
effort. On 27 February 1940, Fairbairn retired with honor from the
Shanghai Municipal Police he had served so well, and in the company of
Sykes, returned to England.
The War Years
This is not the proper forum for a recital of the events which awaited
Fairbairn and Sykes in Great Britain. Theirs is a complicated story,
that demands better than superficial treatment. Suffice to say that the
two became specially employed as close-combat and silent killing
instructors: Sykes at the Special Training Center, Lochailort,
Invernesshire, Scotland, Fairbairn with the Special Operations
Executive.
Our is, rather, the story of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife, and the
autumn of 1940 provided this story with one of its more interesting
chapters.
The need for a proper fighting knife was apparent from the first few
weeks of training specialized personnel. As Fairbairn later wrote,
"...the authorities did not recognize a fighting knife as part of the
equipment of the fighting services. In fact, such a thing as a fighting
knife could not be purchased anywhere in Great Britain."
So in early November 1940, at the suggestion of the office of the Chief
Inspector of Small Arms, newly gazetted Captains Fairbairn and Sykes
paid a call to the offices of John Wilkinson-Latham, Wilkin Sword
Company, Ltd., Number 53 Pall Mall, London.
There they presented the Fairbairn-Sykes design, and after lengthy
discussion, Fairbairn "...managed to persuade the Wilkinson Sword
Company to manufacture it privately from a number of old bayonets they
had in stock, personally guaranteeing the sale of three hundred."
An amusing anecdote has survived from this first meeting. In order to
demonstrate the manner in which a knife ought to be used, Fairbairn
astounded the sedate Wilkinson-Latham by suddenly grabbing a wooden
ruler and assaulting Sykes in mock combat. The two knife fighting
experts--with graying hair and well past middle age--feinted and parried
until Fairbairn ended the demonstration by the simulated slashing of
Sykes' throat.
Following this decidedly unconventional business
meeting, Wilkinson-Latham contacted Charles Rose, head of the
experimental workshop at Wilkinson Sword Company's factory in Southfield
Road, Acton, London W3. He charged Rose, and the firm's foreman grinder,
Mr. Martin, with the task of producing three prototype Fairbairn-Sykes
knives.
Of these three prototypes, one is known to survive. Fairbairn kept it
with him until the day of his death. From 1942 to 1960, he carried it in
an O.S.S All-Ways scabbard. This scabbard, known among O.S.S trainees as
the "pancake flapper," was designed by Fairbairn for the O.S.S and
manufactured in the United States.
Wishing to spare the collector the nuisance of counterfeits, we will
omit giving a detailed description of this prototype, save to say that
it has distinctive features in common with the other two prototypes.
Of the two remaining specimens, one was presented to Sykes and is
presumed lost. The other was retained by the factory. It was, in time,
given to Wilkinson-Latham's grandson, Robert, when the latter was eleven
years old. A year later, Robert traded it to a school chum for a
bayonet. We may set our fancy to work, and imagine this unique specimen
resting in the collection of some fortunate, although unknowing, knife
collector.
The first mass-produced Fairbairn-Sykes, as manufactured by Wilkinson,
is characterized by nickel plating of the guard, grip, and pommel nut;
recurved quillions, and a rather unique blade. The blade has a square
ricasso, or tablet, and tapers with straight edges to an extreme point.
Among collectors, this is known as the "square shank." This particular
model is depicted on page ninety-six of Fairbairn's book All-In
Fighting, first published July 1942, and on page ninety-seven of the
American edition, retitled Get Tough! How to Win in Hand-to-Hand
Fighting.
No satisfactory explanation for the blade's unusual tablet has yet
surfaced, though all knowledgeable parties have been consulted.
Structurally, the tablet adds nothing, and was regarded as something of
a nuisance by the grinders, who found it impeded fast production. It is
not present in the original Fairbairn-Sykes design, so we may not claim
that the factory was merely following form. That the weapon was so
designed in order to accommodate marking seems unlikely, and in any case
unnecessary: blades so marked and ground full length are found in great
numbers. The most reasonable theory supposes that the tablet was
necessary due to some structural peculiarity of the bayonets then used
for grinding-stock.
On the obverse of the blade, the ricasso is etched with a mark of
Fairbairn and Sykes' own design:
The
F-S
Fighting
Knife
On the reverse appears Wilkinson's trademark: WILKINSON SWORD CO LTD
LONDON, imposed on two swords.
These marks exist in variation. They were taken up on
paper transfers from an etching plate with three sets of marks. The
transfers were then cut apart, and the appropriate marks were rubbed on
the blade. When the transfer paper was gently pulled away, acid resist
remained on the blade. The blade was then etched according to
conventional procedure.
Blades were ground by hand, and the grip was first cast and then turned
on a lathe. Knurling was done with standard tools, showing sixteen lines
per inch in a diamond pattern, with little care expended as to
appearance. Guards were stamped out annealed and shaped. The pommel nut
was set down tight on the tang with a wrench or pliers, and the tang end
was then filed and penned over. Guard and grip remain uniform on the
first Wilkinson model Fairbairn-Sykes knives, but blades vary widely
from specimen to specimen, owing to the hand-work. One seeming constant
is thickness at the tablet: 3/16 inch in every specimen examined by the
author.
The first government order of the Fairbairn-Sykes came 14 January 1941,
from one of Fairbairn's colleagues at SOE. In the absence of a formal
contract (security demanded that such matters be dispensed with),
Wilkinson's own order number 960 was written for 98 Fairbairn-Sykes
knives: 50 to be sent to Knebworth, whence they were removed to SOE's
Station XII; 48 sent to Weedon, bound for SOE's Depot School near there.
From these two centers the first specially purchased Fairbairn-Sykes
knives were disbursed to other SOE schools and centers.
Wilkinson Sword Company awakened to demand for the weapon. According to
Robert Wilkinson-Latham, "Deliveries were made to certain specified
depots but the bulk of the production as it became available was held at
the London showrooms, where they were given out against signed chits."
For not only SOE, but the whole of Britain's special forces clamored for
the Fairbairn-Sykes. "The day they arrived," Fairbairn remembered,
"there was a near riot in the rush to buy them." Riot, the reader may
understand, is not a word the former commander of Shanghai's Riot Squad
used lightly.
Strange are the workings of secrecy. It is the once top secret purchases
of the British Special Operations Executive which provide us with the
only hard evidence we have of the first Wilkinson model Fairbairn-Sykes.
Later in January 1941, order number 1005 was written for 150 knives to
be sent to Knebworth. In March, order 1235 requested fifty scabbards for
the same destination. On 29 April 1941, SOE purchased 500 knives per
order number 1176.
As the demand for the Fairbairn-Sykes was clearly substantial,
Wilkinson's sought to streamline production. In July 1941, Rose and
Martin eliminated the blade's tablet, favoring a straight, full grind.
Guards were struck flat. On 11 August 1941, per order number 1482, SOE
purchased 51 knives of the square tablet variety. The following day, the
SOE representative placed order number 1672 for 500 knives, with the
notation, "to new design." This was quickly followed by an order for 720
knives, also "to new design."
Using the Contract Book of Wilkinson Sword Company as a reference, we
can account for 799 square tablet type Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, more were produced for sale at showrooms.
We cannot know the exact number for factory records were partially
destroyed by bombing. The first Wilkinson model Fairbairn-Sykes then,
though scare, is not as rare as previously thought.
The day after Christmas 1941, Wilkinson's received War Office order
number 2323/W, for 1,000 Fairbairn-Sykes knives to be delivered to
Experimental Station 6 (WD), a cover for SOE STA XII. The
Fairbairn-Sykes had proven itself. Wilkson's, at first reluctant to even
consider the weapon, wound up producing some one
quarter
million Fairbairn-Sykes knives between 1941 and 1945. British Secret
Service records indicate that 3,019 of these went to the SOE.
Wilkinson was not the only British manufacturer of
the Fairbairn-Sykes, and the first and second Wilkinson models are not
the sole two patterns. In about September of 1942, the so-called ring
grip pattern was introduced, and quickly became standard. The grip,
thought to be the original design of the Joseph Rodgers firm, of
Sheffield, has 27 concentric rings, and is cast in a non-strategic
alloy.
In the autumn of 1942, the Rodgers firm also produced what may be the
finest of all the wartime Fairbairn-Sykes knives: the beads and ridges
model, so named by collectors for its distinctive grip pattern of nine
rings of tiny beads, spaced with eight sections of five rings each, cast
in pure brass. The blades are delicate and uniform, and the weapon,
though light, is perfectly balanced. A variation of the beads and ridges
is the so-called ringed and cog-wheel pattern, which never matched the
formers excellent handling qualities, perhaps because the grip was a bit
longer than usual, and cast in zinc.
We are unable to discover any particulars regarding the manufacture
of these two Rodgers variations. We do know that the beads and ridges
model was produced in considerable quantity, and that thousands were
sold as surplus in the United States and Canada during the post-war
years. One need only consult the advertising pages of American Rifleman
magazines published in the 1950s for suitable evidence. Among
collectors, the ringed and cog-wheel pattern is considered the more
desirable of the two.
To return to the ring grip pattern, this is the kind of weapon we see
sold the world over as a "commando knife," at prices ranging from six to
twenty dollars. Though consanguineous, we cannot really consider ring
grip "commando knives" as true Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives.
From the manufacturers point of view, the ring grip is a desirable
pattern. It is inexpensive and simple to fabricate. From the scienced
knife fighter's point of view it is a complete disaster. The grip is
uncomfortable. When wet it is difficult to hold. Owing to the concentric
rings it actually becomes easier for the weapon to roll from the hand,
and finally, this form of grip all but destroys the exquisite balance of
a proper Fairbairn-Sykes. Indeed, Fairbairn is known to have been
bitterly disappointed with the ring grip pattern, which he felt spoiled
the Fairbairn-Sykes beyond redemption.
The consensus of opinion among Sheffield manufacturers is that
approximately 6 million ring grip pattern knives have been manufactured.
Approximately 2 million were manufactured 1942 to 1945, and the
remaining 4 million in the thirty-odd years thereafter. This estimate
takes into account the ones made in nations other than Great Britain,
such as Japan, Italy, or Spain.
The reader interested in further information regarding the marking of
such knives, variations, and scabbard types, is directed to Captain
Colin M. Stevens' excellent study, "Your Commando Knife," Military
Collectors Club of Canada Journal,XII:1 (1975) pp. 20-24.
The O.S.S Years
The American Office of Strategic Services, before it was so named, was
known as the Office of the Coordinator of Information, or COI. In April
1942, W.E. Fairbairn found himself on loan to COI, under orders of the
New York-based British Security Coordination (BSC).
One of Fairbairn's first concerns was to have the
Fairbairn-Sykes knife manufactured for use by United States personnel.
As he had, through the years, maintained contact with his former
students in the U.S. Marine Corps, the Marines seemed a likely candidate
for first service to adopt the Fairbairn-Sykes.
So, on 20 April 1942, within days of Fairbairn's arrival in the United
States, the Marine Corps contacted the Camillus Cutlery Company, of
Camillus, New York, and placed a substantial order for a new pattern
Fairbairn-Sykes.
The new pattern incorporated a cast aluminum hilt. The Marine
procurement specialists, working with William D. Wallace, plant manager
at Camillus, contributed this feature: a disappointing variation that,
once again, succeeded in destroying the weapon's balance and handling
qualities. This Marine model Fairbairn-Sykes was produced in 1942 only,
with 14,370 knives delivered in two shipments. Scabbards were purchased
by Camillus from the Mosser Leather Company.
The Marine model was not a complete success, but Fairbairn did not give
up. COI seemed the next likely choice, and that choice was a fortunate
one. COI administration was warming to Fairbairn's methods and advice,
and vast amounts of secret funds were being pumped into COI in
anticipation of its reorganization as O.S.S.
On 12 June 1942, one day before COI became O.S.S, contract 8 UN-VG was
issued to Landers, Frary & Clark, of New Britain, Connecticut, for
10,000 Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives at $2.23 each. The
Fairbairn-Sykes was now the first official dagger of America's first
official cloak and dagger agency.
To digress for a moment, this matter of price is an interesting one. The
first Fairbairn-Sykes knives delivered by Wilkinson to SOE were sold at
13/6, including scabbard. Wilkinson knives were reconditioned at 11/-
and scabbards sold separately for 4/6. On 31 October 1942, when the
first tendered contract was let to Wilkinson by the Ministry of Supply,
the price had jumped to 17/9.
Yet, when COI planners were costing out the special weapons program,
internal documents show that 5,000 Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knives were
estimated to cost $150,000. , based on British prices. In America, twice
as many knives cost $22,300., against an original bid of $20,300.
Unfortunately, COI/O.S.S received exactly what it paid for. The Landers,
Frary & Clark specimens, without exception, were improperly tempered,
and subject to fracture and bending even after light use. It is a pity,
as the knives were otherwise nicely finished, and the O.S.S style grip
is regarded as the best ever to be placed on a Fairbairn-Sykes. The
coarse knurling was laid on with a special rolling die, fourteen lines
to the inch, allowed to run all the way to the guard. The author
considers that rolling die to be a treasure. Unfortunately, it is lost.
The O.S.S model knives were supplied in the distinctive All-Ways
scabbard, mentioned earlier. It is interesting to note that O.S.S
planners agonized over whether to furnish the scabbard with black or
brown leather(!) finally deciding upon brown leather for its real or
imagined morale value. Such were the worries of America's first secret
servants. Need we add they might have expended as much care to the
choice of steel, or manufacturer?
By the autumn of 1942, the Fairbairn-Sykes design thus acquired
something of a bad reputation in America. On the one hand, the Marine
variations were returning from the field broken and otherwise battered,
at least partly because the Marines were untrained in the correct method
of the knife's use (something Fairbairn attempted to remedy in the
autumn of 1942, when he briefly served as an instructor to Marine Corps
personnel.
We quote Harold L. Peterson's excellent American Knives:
"None of the Marines liked them... because their blades were too light
and brittle for all-purpose work and because they were designed so
specifically for stabbing that they restricted the number of possible
attacks and parries."
As I know, this is a wholly incorrect assumption. The weapon was indeed
designed so that it would in no way restrict either attack or parry. As
regards brittleness of the blade, this may well be a function of a too
thin cross-section. Camillus informs us that the blades were a "high
carbon steel," which is, of course, meaningless, and sent into service
at 59 on the Rockwell C scale, equally meaningless, as we do not know
the steel. If, as we may safely assume, the "high carbon steel" was a
class 350 steel, such as type 351 or 355, then it was a poor choice.
Such steels are unsuitable for the Fairbairn-Sykes.
Turning to the other case, due to improper tempering by Landers, Frary &
Clark, the O.S.S variations were almost totally useless. If you suspect
sabotage, you are not the first. More than one German was employed in
the U.S. cutlery industry in 1942, and a counterintelligence
investigation was actually launched.
The Post-War Era
With the U.S. Marines and the O.S.S to accuse it, no wonder the
Fairbairn-Sykes suffered at American hands. The author must also admit
to assisting this slander by the criticisms appearing in the Complete
Book of Knife Fighting(1975); something for which he was promptly taken
to task by more knowledgeable persons than those originally consulted.
By way of repentance, let me be the first to state that properly
employed, the Fairbairn-Sykes is no more likely to break than any other
knife, assuming proper care has been invested in its manufacture. For
the Fairbairn-Sykes, however, this last is an unfortunately large
assumption. Of all wartime manufacturers, we may say the only
Wilkinson's managed to make the weapon properly, and then only for a
brief period.
In order to conclusively establish whether or not the Fairbairn-Sykes
is inordinately prone to breakage, the author consulted numbers of
British subjects having direct experience with the weapon in wartime
conditions. In this regard we may well remember that while 24,370 knives
total were manufactured for U.S. personnel, on the order of 2 million
were manufactured for U.K. personnel. I feel that the British are thus
in a better position than we to judge the weapon's merits.
Britishers we consulted were unanimous in their praise of the
Fairbairn-Sykes. There were, of course, instances of blade breakage. One
fellow broke his slashing truck tires. Another by attempting to drive
the blade into an oil drum in order to engage in a bit of fire raising.
But we have not found a single instance where a properly manufactured
Fairbairn-Sykes failed whilst being scientifically applied to the
purpose for which it was originally designed.
Still, the Fairbairn-Sykes, in America at least, never quite recovered
from the effects of shoddy workmanship. Late-war British specimens did
nothing to add to its reputation and post-war specimens sealed its fate
for a good long while.
At war's end, interest in the Fairbairn-Sykes faded, but still
flickered. In 1948, all remaining stores of the O.S.S model were taken
up by the Central Intelligence Agency, which thereafter issued the
weapon as H00-0444 Knife, Fighting, Fairbairn, well into the early
1960s. Royal Marine Commandos still use the weapon, and Wilkinson's
still manufactures the weapon under contract to the Ministry of Defense,
and the Dutch and Norwegian governments. The knife was also manufactured
in Japan, under CIA contract, as late as 1970, for the Studies and
Observation Groups and similar long-range penetration teams working in
Southeast Asia, but the quality just wasn't there. Too much time had
passed since anyone had handled a proper Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.
In the late 1970s, whilst concluding my researches, I was struck by the
fact that Fairbairn never made a dime from his design. Accordingly, I
put together an investment and management group and formed the Castle
Knife Company, in San Francisco. I thereafter purchased the production
line at a Sheffield factory and personally supervised a run of 1,100
blades. I took exclusive license from the Estate of W.E. Fairbairn to
use his name, and paid his surviving child a royalty on each knife sold.
I purchased a special melt of class 410 oil-hardening cold work die
steel for the forgings, and sample tested them at random throughout the
run. As hardened, the blades ran between 65-1/2 to 66 Rockwell C. After
tempering, all blades sampled ran 57-1/2 to 58-1/2 Rockwell C. As
military specifications call for a bending test, this test was performed
with the following result: the sample was bent under heavy load through
an angle of 50 degrees before breaking. The two broken pieces had taken
no permanent set and showed a fine, silky fracture. Military
specifications merely call for a 30 degree angle. All testing was done
under the personal supervision of the Senior metallurgist of the British
Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association (CATRA).
I retained the recurved quillions of the first mass-produced model, and
turned my attention to the grip. Special tooling was designed and built
which allowed the knurling to be run on in one operation: fourteen lines
to the inch, coarse, and extending to the guard, exactly as per the
O.S.S grip. Grips are cast in best quality statuary grade bronze, and
will take on a pleasing patina with age.
I next hired workmen that crafted the original Fairbairn-Sykes for
Wilkinson's; some were quite literally brought out of retirement. The
knife was ground, finished, and hafted entirely by their hands.
I brought the knives to America in small lots of fifty, and etched them
with the original F-S mark on every blade. To distinguish them, I also
etched on the Castle Knife Company logo. We sold them for $75. each,
$80. for the "sanitary" model with no etching. Production stopped in
1979 and will never be resumed.
The above venture was, in the end, a money-losing proposition, but we
did not do what we did for money. We did it to honor Fairbairn and
Sykes, and the men and women of the silent services. It is my honest
belief that we produced one of the better Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting
Knives ever made.
I will end this brief account with one final touch of history. At
London's Westminster Abbey, just to your right as you enter the doors, a
few feet from Britain's tribute to Winston Churchill and close by the
Unknown Soldier, is a memorial to the British Commando, established by
the Queen. Her Majesty
The Applegate "Fairbairn" Fighting Knife
William L. Cassidy"