The ubiquitous British Fairbairn-Sykes is a double-edged fighting knife developed by William Fairbairn and Eric Sykes while serving in China prior to World War II. With its 7-inch blade, the weapon is optimized for thrusting but is capable to inflict slashing cuts as well. Overall length is 11.5 inches. The F-S knife was used by British Commandos, airborne forces, the SAS and many other units, especially for the Normandy landing in June 1944. The style was copied and used by the OSS and Marine Raiders and other special forces, clandestine and raiding units.
By Robert G. Segel
Blades of some sort have been part of the soldier’s armament for centuries. From the earliest times of human history, it is the metal blade that enabled combatants to inflict serious or mortal wounds upon an enemy – up close and personal. Whether a spike on the tip of a lance, a short or long sword – either single or double edged, a dagger or stiletto, the battle blade it has many names and configurations.
Hand held bladed weapons tend to serve many uses for which therein lies a problem. The needle-like tip of a Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife is an excellent piercing weapon but a broken tip is guaranteed if used to open a can of C-rations. A cavalry sword is designed for slashing and not for stealthy raiding parties. Like firearms, battle blades are designed for specific purposes and use. And while firearms allowed conflict to be done at a distance, there always is a need for a final personal defense weapon when certain situations arise.
Three hand-to-hand combat blades from World War I. Top: U.S. Model of 1918 Mark I knuckled trench knife made by L.F. & C. (Landers, Frary & Clark of New Britain, Conn.). The knife blade is double edged 6.75 inches in length with an overall length of 11.75 inches and is useful for thrusting and slashing strokes. Holding the blade in place through the handle is a conical steel nut that doubles as a pointed skull-crusher pommel. The handle is one piece cast bronze with cast spikes on the bow of each knuckle. The steel 1918 scabbard has belt hooks for the scabbard to be worn on the belt in a horizontal position. Middle: U.S. Model of 1917 trench knife made by A.C. Co. (American Cutlery, Company). Steel knuckled knife with a triangular blade and wood handle. The knuckled guard has 5 rows of double flanges. The leather scabbard has a metal tip and throat with M1910 wire belt hooks. The blade is 9 inches in length with an overall length of 14 inches. Bottom: U.S. Model of 1917 trench knife made by L.F. & C. (Landers, Frary & Clark). Steel knuckled knife with 9 inch triangular blade and wood handle and is 14 inches overall. The guard has 6 pyramid studs pressed out of the guard. The leather scabbard has a metal tip and throat with M1910 wire belt hooks.
Hand held battle blades are designed for stabbing, slicing or hacking and the size, shape and configuration of the blade pretty much determined their effectiveness. For instance, triangular blades were originally developed for stabbing and piercing through chainmail with the added benefit of producing a wound that was harder to stop or control the bleeding.
In the melee that is often the fight, a bladed weapon often had multiple usage options incorporated in the design to optimize the final results as manipulated by arm movements. This included a double edged blade to provide a slash cut whether swinging from right or left. The pommel often had a spike or cone shape to the end, called a “skull-crusher” to enable a backhanded injury after swinging through. Many battle blades also incorporated a brass, bronze or steel knuckle guard (aka brass knuckles) that often included spikes or flanges. While officially these “spiked brass knuckle” guards were to prevent an opponent from grabbing the knife-wielder’s hand, the more obvious devastating and terrifying brutal effect of being hit, particularly in the face, is self-evident.
The World War I hand-made “French Nail” (Clous Francais) was a crudely made stabbing spike made by cutting and pointing the upper portions of a screw picket used to support the omnipresent barbed wire protecting the trench lines or a section of reinforcing rod from a concrete field work. The rearmost section was heated and bent into a crude handle. The 8 inch blade is fashioned from beating the forward extension of the rod flat with the end product being a long leaf-shaped double edged blade with a prominent medial rib. Overall length is 13.5 inches. They were reportedly produced at a number of French front-line “parcs d’artillerie.”
Every army of every country around the world has some sort of combat blade – to this very day – usually in a more utilitarian purpose suitable for a number of purposes that include campsite activities, wire cutting and personal defense. The battle blades shown here are a sampling of some of the types used in World Wars I and II and are nowhere near a complete listing. And the number of commercially made hunting knives by well-known makers that soldiers carried on their own is not covered here. There are entire reference books on the subject whether by type, manufacturer, country or time period. But the battle blades shown here show the range of uses and applications in the first half of the 20th century.
Part II of Battle Blades will look at weapon mounted blades – bayonets – that were used in World War I and II.
The U.S. V-42 stiletto was manufactured by W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., and was issued to the Elite First Special Service Force (1st SSF, aka Devil’s Brigade), a joint Canadian/American commando unit in World War II. Case factory records indicate that approximately 3,000 V-42 knives were produced with one shipment of 1,750 knives to the FSSF recorded by the Force’s supply officer. The blade is 7 inches long with a usable cutting double-edge of 5.75 inches with an overall length of 14.25 inches. It has a pointed skull-crusher on the pommel. The blade has a unique thumb-print groove on the ricasso that was designed to facilitate a flat or modified saber grip with the thumb over the crossguard. This positioned the double-edged blade horizontally so the commando could slash an opponent with either a forehand or backhand stroke, while ensuring that his blade would slip between the ribs when used in a thrust or stab. Issued with a leather scabbard with a long tang so that when worn on the belt it hung low on the leg for a quick and easy withdrawal; though originally designed to hang beneath the bottom of a GI parka as the unit was initially trained for fighting in cold weather conditions.
The World War II Smatchet for use by British Commandos of the SOE and SAS and the U.S. O.S.S. This massive steel fighting knife with a wood handle and zinc pommel was designed for close combat with an 11 inch blade and 16 inches overall combining the features of both the machete and bolo. Its leaf-shaped blade is sharpened the entire length along the bottom and the front half along the top allowing it to be used for slashing, thrusting or chopping an opponent.
World War I Welsh battle knife privately provided by Lord Howard De Waldin, second in command and commander of the 9th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers from November 1916 to December 1917. This unique battle knife was issued to trench raiding parties and Lewis machine gunners. The knife is based on the ancient Welsh Cledd sword and was designed and patented by Felix Joubert in 1917. It has an 18 inch leaf shaped blade nearly 3 inches wide at its widest point and an overall length of 23 inches. The pommel is pointed so that it could be used as a skull-crusher. The guard is circular and could be folded flat against the blade when not in use; a feature that allowed the knife to be patented. The blade is engraved “Dros Urddas Cymru” (For the Honor of Wales) and a maker’s mark of an entwined “JO” (Joubert). The leather and canvas scabbard has the cap badge of the Machine Gun Corps attached to the front. This knife belonged to Welsh Machine Gun Corps Lieutenant F. Over-Bate
World War II O.S.S. stiletto fighting knife with “Pancake Flipper” scabbard. This unique fighting knife was patterned after the British Fairbairn-Sykes as issued to British Commandos and SOE personnel. In 1942, the O.S.S. adopted the design and began issuing them to field agents in 1943. The knife was manufactured by the Connecticut housewares company L.F. & C. (Landers, Frary & Clark). The double edged blade length is 6.5 inches and the overall length is 11.25 inches. As a measure of wartime austerity the company used the same stamping tool for their household spatula to make the steel scabbard back; thus forever referred to by collectors as the “Pancake Flipper” scabbard. The body of the scabbard is leather with a metal tip. The “spatula” backing has slots for wearing on a belt and has provision for a rubber O-ring that holds the knife’s handle tightly against the scabbard to prevent rattling.
TOP: WWII O.S.S. knuckle sword. Unmarked and sterile but manufactured by Foster Brothers, Fulton, New York. These ultra rare sword/bayonets were dropped to resistance fighters in the Philippines. Made from a 1913 Patton sword blade, the blade is 22.75 inches long with an overall length of 26.75 inches. It has a ribbed rubber hose grip and the flat sheet iron strap knucklebow is stamped to have 4 raised nubs. Bottom: Companion WWII O.S.S. knuckle trench knife to the above sword, it too is unmarked and sterile and manufactured by Foster Bros., Fulton, New York to be dropped to resistance fighters in the Philippines. Unlike the sword version, the knife has a triangular blade made from an M1873 angular bayonet and is 8.75 inches long. Overall length is 14 inches. The knucklebow is flat sheet iron stamped to have 4 raised nubs. The handle grip is composed of a ribbed rubber hose material and the rear of the blade protrudes at the pommel as a skull-crusher feature.
Top: World War II British brass knuckle trench knife with a steel spike blade made from salvaged Sten gun bayonets. The cast brass handle simply marked with a British Broad Arrow acceptance mark. The blade is 6.75 inches long and 10.75 inches overall in length. Bottom: This World War II brass knuckle knife was made in Australia. Massive one-piece bronze knuckle handle and guard with steel Bowie-shaped blade. The blade is 9.5 inches long with an overall length of 14.25 inches. This knife was reported to be issued to U.S. Rangers and is thus known to collectors as the “Ranger Knuckle Knife,” but that is not the case as these knives were not officially issued to Rangers. These knives were produced and sold commercially in Australia and any number of allied soldiers could have purchased and used them – including Rangers – as they are formidable weapons.
Sometimes called a D-Day Dagger or a Desert War Commando Airborne Paratrooper “Hatpin Dagger,” this simple close combat weapon was another iteration of the spike dagger. This unit is completely sterile with no markings. British Commandos were issued this spiked blade with a 6.5 inch quatrafoil cruciform cross-section blade and is 11 inches long overall. It is probably made from part of a French Lebel or British spike bayonet. The scabbard is a British No. 4 Mk I scabbard.
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V19N8 (October 2015) and was posted online on August 21, 2015
