FAIRBAIRN SYKES BRITISH FIGHTING KNIFE 2nd PATTERN

This is an original 2nd pattern British Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife.  There are no maker marks on the blade.

Issued by Lord Lovat Scouts to R.G. Shawcross in Achnacarr, Scotland near Fort William. The Lovat Scouts was a British Army unit first formed during the 2nd Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment.  

The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife is a double-edged fighting knife resembling a dagger or poignard with a foil grip. It was developed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes while both served on the Shanghai Municipal Police in China before WW2.    

Also known as the F-S knife it was made famous during WW2 by the British Commandos.

It has an acute tapered sharp pointed blade great for thrusting.    

Received from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum, Canada.  The museum was selling off some of there museum’s items, to make room for more.  The museum called it deaccessioning surplus museum artifacts.

The museum numbers their items for inventory purposes and you will see that there is a very small white number on this item put there by the museum.  They are very easy to remove with your fingernail.

As the size and the sccope of he British Commando program grew so did the demand for the FS knives.  Minute changes were made to increase the eas of product of the knife, which resulted in the 2nd Patter F-S knife. Up until the introduction of the 2nd pattern F-S knife Wilkinson Sword was the sole manufacturer of the FS.  But as demand increased the British government offered contracts to other cutlery companies.

Details:

Production Duration:  April 29, 1941 to February 1943.
Overall Length:  Approx.  11 5/8” (295.2 mm) to 11 78” (301.6 mm)

Blade:

Material:  High Carbon Steel
Construction:  Drop-forged, ground and sharpened by hand.
Shape:  Tapered, double-edged dagger, diamond shaped cross-section, more spear pointed.
Blade Length:  Between 6 ¾” (171.4 mm) to 7” (177.8 mm).  Variances in blade length is due to hand-grinding and sharpening.
Ricasso:  The square, flat-ground “Tablet” has been replaced with a central spine that extends the entire length of the blade.
Markings:  Though Wilkinson knives feature a logo not all other manufacturers had their logo etched.  This knife does not have a logo.

Cross-Guard:

Material:  Steel
Construction:  Die-stamped by machine.
Shape:  The cross-guard was now a simple flattened design instead of the recured ”S” shape in the 1st pattern knife.