A 1943 Wilkinson Experimental F-S Fighting Knife

The Earliest Known Documented & Authenticated Wilkinson Experimental F-S Fighting Knife

By

Roy Shadbolt

Introduction

As a child there are often particular fictional characters that fascinate, intrigue as well as entertain us.  The memories of these captivating personalities along with their adventures and exploits often stay with us well beyond childhood, continuing to linger in our memories and engage our imaginations.  For me, one such indulgence was watching the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.  I remember being specially delighted at the sight of Dr. Watson who, at the first sign of trouble, would reach into his overcoat pocket and in an air of nostalgia for times long past in military service, would whip out his trusty Webley revolver (or was it in Enfield?) and brandish it with the familiarity and confidence often bestowed on old soldiers.

Becoming an Amateur ‘sleuth’ was not a role I envisioned myself playing, however, those of us who collect arms usually find ourselves developing a Healthy respect and appreciation for history.  And just like Mr. Holmes (although I suspect far less dramatically), we often find ourselves embroiled in deeding all manner of interesting details associated with our particular passion.  Whether such discoveries are revolutionary,, destined to redefine our collective knowledge or simply offer a modest detail to be shared with friends, the all add ‘colour’ and interest to our particular field of collecting.

Sometimes these new discoveries are brought to light through careful and deliberate observations by scholarly experts and sometimes by the diligent research performed enthusiastically by amateurs.  But on rare occasions we see some divine inspiration (or should I say blind luck!) by collectors like you and me.  It is such a discovery that came my way one morning via an email from my friend, author and historian Robert Wilkinson-Latham, and one which I would like to share with the reader.  I hope the sharing in the excitement of a new discovery will bring you joy, inspiration, and if the iconic Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife is not your particular cup of tea, then hope for your own specialist area of research.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Fairbairn-Sykes (or F-S) Fighting Knife, let me very briefly reflect on some historical perspective.

Starting with its original maker Wilkinson Sword Co. Ltd in the latter stages of 1940, the knife went on to be made throughout the World War Two (and well beyond) in a number of patterns and numerous variations.  As production needed to be expanded many other companies would join Wilkinsons in fulfilling orders for the Ministry of Supply (MoS).  Much of the challenge of studying the early development and manufacturing history of the F-S Knife has been in the distinct lack of hard documented information.  However to the delight of collectors, much of this changed in 2008 with the publication of Robert Wilkinson-Latham’s groundbreaking book Wilkinson And The F-S Fighting Knife.  With new information surfacing, an updated 2nd edition was soon published.  As a result of these publicans, much of the true story of the wartime Wilkinson Sword F-S Knife is now known.  Through Robert’s painstaking research into decades of old Wilkinson Sword files, many new and exciting discoveries have come to light.  It is the story of one of these discoveries which I would like to share.

On January 28th 2009, I awoke to a Justifiably excited email from Robert (Wilkinson-Latham).  In searching through bundles of old Wilkinson files dating from the 1920’s and 1930’s (mostly memos and catalogs relating to ‘gardening tools’), he had stumbled across a most intriguing memo.  Written by A.W. Beckham (Assistant Works Superintendent) and addressed to J.W. Latham (Managing Director and Robert’s Grandfather), the date was 19th January 1943 with the reference “F.S Castings”!  The contents of that memo are as follows: “The last batch of F.S grip castings received were of poor quality and rejected and returned.  They suffered from severe ‘shrinkage’ in the top half of the grip and from uneven interior walls at the tapered portion of the grip near the pommel, which only became evident when machined.  This batch also suffered from severe ‘honeycombing’ in general.  So that production does not suffer if this supply problem persists, I suggest we look at a solution that may satisfy the Ministry of Supply.  I have spoken with Mr. Rose and Mr. Larkin who suggest that we should cast the bottom ¾ of the grip at its thickest part where there are less faults with the casting.  We should then turn the top ¼ of the grip from brass rod, drill through and thread.  Mr. Rose says he can quickly produce a sample for you to see.”  (written by hand) “Could you please examine and let me know your comments.”

Any original documentation to the production of the F-S Knife is a find indeed, but that had Robert’s pulse (and mine) up on this occasion was that on reading the memo he remembered actually owning this very experimental F-S Knife years earlier.  Having found it in an assortment parts bin many years earlier and not knowing its origin and significance, he had assumed it was unimportant and just made up from parts.  He had long since given this important piece of experimental F-S Knife Wilkinson history to his son for (wait for it…) digging up dandelions and weeds in the garden!  [I hope the irony is not lost on the reader that the memo was originally discovered with all the old files pertaining to ‘gardening tools!]. After a frantic international call to his son, this important and unique piece of F-S Wilkinson history was located and promptly shipped back to Robert.  Aside from a little surface rust and with a good cleaning it seemed none the worse for its ordeal, but rest assured the knife’s gardening days were definitely over!

The Knife

I was thrilled to see that despite its undignified occupation, this “Dandelion Digger” (the moniker we affectionately attached to it) had sustained no damage to the blade.  Still straight and with no ill effects to the cutting edges or point, it had come through its ordeal admirable.  After the surface rust, dirt and grime had been carefully removed, only mild wear and staining remained as clues to its previously improvised ‘civilian’ occupation.  The blade is beautifully hand forged and is just shy of 6⅞”, within the normal parameters of a standard F-S Knife.  Mr Charlie Rose (Chief Engineer and Head of the Experimental Workshop) did a grand job.  The hilt as mentioned in the memo is in two parts.  The larger section is machine knurled as per normal production, interestingly the base of the grip has two turned groves at the termination of the knurling.  At first I could see no reason for this other than a little ‘aesthetics’ to mirror the turning on the pommel.  The pommel itself is turned from solid brass rod, as specified in the memo, threaded onto the tang and then being peened over in the normal fashion.  At first it appeared that this pommel had perhaps been specifically made for this task, but subsequent research has found the exact same pommel fitted to pre-war Masonic swords made by Wilkinsons.  Those same Masonic swords also have two turned grooves at the base of the grip.  It is impossible to say whether the inspiration for the ‘two-part’ grip came from the construction for the Masonic swords or after the idea was discussed the Masonic pommel fit the bill.  Either way, under wartime conditions no doubt it was prudent to use what one had.

With regards to the cast hilts it’s worth recalling at this point that due to wartime restrictions on strategic material of which brass was and thus strictly controlled, that Wilkinsons had taken the prudent decision to cast the brass hilts.  This procedure resulted in leaving a small cavity on the interior of the hilt, thus facilitating a small amount of brass per unit to be saved without significantly altering the quality or balance of the knife.

Although the blade itself is well made, the fit and finish of the guard and ‘two-part’ hilt is not to the same high standard that one normally enchantress on finished Wilkinson knives from the same period.  This is not a surprise when one realizes that this was a pattern knife, designed and made purely to try out an idea.  It then would have likely been disassembled, used for parts or to set up jigs or machinery.

As we now know, this adaptation never got beyond this prototype or pattern knife.  One can speculate as to the reason why, but it would seem logical that the casting problems which initiated this design change were subsequently resolved and thus the need for the modified Two-Part hilt (along with this experimental knife) were soon forgotten.  Although this particular knife does not play a significant or obvious role in the development or evolution of the F-S Fighting Knife, it does demonstrate Wilkinson’s commitment to quality control while providing us with a glimpse into the ongoing difficulties and challenges they faced as they struggled to keep up with the increased demand to fill orders for the Ministry of Supply.  This unique one of a kind Wilkinson Experimental F-S Knife leaves us with an interesting historical perspective and insight into their manufacturing process in war-torn Britain.

Other Wilkinson Experimental F-S Knives

It is worth noting that there are NO documented evidence that a First Pattern experimental knife is known or believed to still exist.  The author has discussed this topic with Robert (Wilkinson-Latham on many occasions.  Robert’s memory from his early days at Wilkinson Sword is quite clear and is worth repeating here: “When I worked as a Craft Apprentice in 1963 I remember asking Charlie Rose about any prototypes and he replied, ‘There was a bloody War on!  We used it for tool making and then slung the bits in the official scrap bins.’ ”

To date we have identified and confirmed through Wilkinson’s original internal documentation a total of three  experimental Wilkinson Sword knives that were made during WWII.  The earliest example (and the subject of this article) is the Two-Part Hilt Second Pattern dating from January of 1943.  The other two knives date from early in 1944 and are of the Third Pattern type but having a Steel-Hilt instead of the customary cast alloy.  A dedicated article on these knives is available on a link at the bottom of this page.

Acknowledgments:  I would like to thank Robert Wilkinson-Latham for permission to use details from his book Wilkinsons and the F-S Fighting Knife and also for his help and support in preparing this article.

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