The Wilkinson Sword First Pattern Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife

A Comprehensive Guide To The Original Wilkinson ‘First Pattern’ Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife

By

Roy Shadbolt

Introduction

The knife we now simply but respectfully refer to as The First Pattern was born out of a desperate period and one of the darkest of hours in the annals of British history.  The year was 1940 and in May and June of that year, little more than nine months into what would become the Second World War, the Battle of Dunkirk would play out.  The largest sea-born evacuation of the British Army from the French beaches of Dunkirk would leave Britain near defenseless in no small part due to the bulk of its arms having been abandoned during the frantic operation to rescue over a third of a million soldiers.  The potential catastrophic implications of imminent invasion of Britain and subjugation of its people must have been unimaginable.  With the British standing Army now soundly bested and devoid of most of its arms, it would seem that all was lost.  History however would have a different story to tell.  

The Beginning

Arriving from Shanghai two retired senior Police officers would have a small but important part to play in the fight ahead.  Supposedly retired from distinguished careers with the Shanghai Municipal Police Force (SMP) these two respectable looking elderly gentleman had some eccentric ideas on how to train our newly formed Commando units in close-combat techniques.  This would include the use of a fighting knife for which they not only had their own ideas on but also a design for what they viewed as the ideal knife for such a purpose.  Having had decades dealing with the violent criminal underwood in Shanghai their experience was arguable second to none.  And thus the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife was born.

The Wilkinson First Pattern F-S was conceived on Monday, 4th November 1940 at a meeting held at the office of the managing director of Wilkinson Sword Co. Ltd,  John (‘Jack’) Wilkinson-Latham.  Joining ‘Jack’ that Monday were three other gentleman; Charlie Rose, William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes.  Charlie Rose was one of Wilkinson’s most talented and experienced engineers and as head of the Experimental Workshop, his input on design, development and production would have been invaluable. 

Fairbairn and Sykes, having been tasked with training Britain’s newly-formed Commando’s and the clandestine operatives of the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) in ‘unconventional warfare’, were meeting with Jack Wilkinson-Latham on official duty.  They needed a Fighting Knife suitable for their particular style silent killing and Wilkinsons, with their long history of military arms manufacture and bespoke knife making, were the ideal choice to supply such a weapon.

A design was soon agreed upon and it would appear that expediency was of paramount importance as just ten days later on 14th November (1940), a contract was received for 1,500 knives to be supplied before the end of the month.  The now well-known moniker of First Pattern that we are so familiar with today was obviously not yet in use.  Interestingly however and before Wilkinson was able to supply the first batch of F-S knives, there was an initial request for Wilkinson to supply a quantity of their ‘Hunting Knife’, as a stop-gap measure.  Wilkinson of course was happy to assist and is known to have supplied one gross (144) of their commercial hunting knives while they were tooling up for production of the F-S.

Contrary to some erroneous reports there were no pre-production First Pattern knives and at that time only ‘one’ prototype or pattern knife was made.  This singular knife was used for setting up tooling and was subsequently disposed of.  Although no records survive concerning this incident, we do have a firsthand account.  Robert Wilkinson-Latham, while working as a Craft Apprentice (c1963) asked Charlie Rose (the original engineer on this project) about any prototype knives.  He said that he only made one knife and that “Mr., Jack [Jack Wilkinson-Latham] took it up to town, we then ‘tweaked’ it a bit ....... there was a bloody war on!   We used it for tool making and then slung the bits in the official scrap bins”.  These, then, are the facts as we know them.  

With the words of Charlie Rose still fresh in our mind it is perhaps important to note that a number of knives have surfaced over the last few decades purporting to be prototype or pre-production First Pattern knives.  Without exception these are all fake.

Early Trials Production

Those knives produced during the first production run are quite distinct from those later produced to the now well recognized standard form.  For a full and comprehensive article on this fascinating topic please refer to the dedicated article ‘The Earliest Trials Production First Pattern F-S Fighting Knife’, a link to which can also be found at the bottom of this page.  However, it would be remiss to not include a short summery as part of this article.

The First Pattern F-S throughout its nine month production period remained reasonably consistent in both its design and production, showing very little deviation or change from what we now recognize as the standard form.  Aside from very minor differences from knife to knife, which reflected the nature of hand-grinding and fitting, etc., each component and how it was made and fitted was more or less identical.  However this is not the whole story as a small group of knives demonstrate a number of significant features that when viewed together and in context reveal a different story.  

The first two and less significant production differences are the Wilkinson etching panel and the grip knurling.  The former, when studied closely, is clearly different to the etchings found on all other First Pattern knives.  Although the central logo remains the same, the foliate device both top and bottom is clearly different and is slightly more ornate.  

The second of these first two anomalies is in the knurling to the grip which differs in two ways to the standard pattern.  Firstly; it is very coarse compared to most other standard pattern knives.  Perhaps this is reflective of new tooling?  The second detail is that it terminates much closer to the crossguard.  No obvious explanation comes to mind for this detail other than perhaps the machine was adjusted or ‘re-set’ after the initial production run.

The most noticeable feature of these early knives is that they all exhibit an exaggerated or pronounced ‘S’ curvature to their crossguard.  It could be argued that an exaggerated form may or may not take more time/effort to produce.  However it is not the form alone that one needs to focus on but more so how it impacts the blade’s ricasso shoulder and the subsequent grinding needed to marry up these components.

Looking closely at the fit between the exaggerated ’S’ shaped crossguard and the ricasso shoulder it is clear that the ricasso must also be ground in an identical ’S’ form to fit the crossguard in order to avoid any unsightly gaps and to facilitate a correct and proper fit during assembly.  Clearly the extra time and effort it would take to accomplish this could not be sustained when fulfilling excessively large orders numbering in tens of thousands.  A better, more efficient way had to be found.  Therefore the solution was to simply construct the ‘S’ shaped crossguard with a more gentle curve that would fit up against a squared off ricasso shoulder; thus eliminating the hand grinding and fitting process altogether.  This is precisely what we see on the standard pattern knife.

The 3 Inch Crossguard

A few Wilkinson First Pattern F-S Knives are known fitted with a 3 inch crossguard.  Although there are fakes examples out there, there are indeed a few correct examples known.  Many unsubstantiated stories have been associated with these knives but following my research and study and importantly the discovery of original Wilkinson documentation, a picture is starting to emerge.  Although much is still unknown/unproved regarding the origins of these knives and their full history may never be known.  For a full article on this topic please see ‘The 3 Inch Crossguard Wilkinson First Patterns’, there is also a link to this article at the bottom of this page.

A few original documents have been identified which not only prove the existence of the 3 inch crossguard First Pattern but also indicate that knives were indeed returned for a re-fit of the smaller 2 inch crossguard.  This appears to have been initiated as of 21st January (1941) with the work being started as of 9th February.  

The details held within these documents suggest that this was the original design which initially appears to be in conflict with the research carried out and subsequent conclusions in regards the ‘Trials’ knives discussed briefly earlier (see article ‘The Earliest Trials Production Knives’).  However on further analysis it becomes plausible that these early knives may have originally been fitted with a crossguard of 3 inches in length only to be retro fitted with the shorter guard as per the instructions within the documents.

The 3 inch crossguard First Pattern remains one of the most elusive to find, as such there are a number of fakes out there, so extreme caution should be taken when encountering such a knife.  Fortunately a lot more is known about these knives now and along with much research the true history of these rare knives is coming into view.

The Numbered 30946 Knives Of No9 Commando

In late/early 2016/17 myself along with my now dearly departed friend and co-author Brian Moyse wrote an article detailing the 30946 numbered First Pattern F-S Knives and the subsequent discovery of their link to No9 Commando.  If you wish to read this dedicated article please follow the link at the bottom of this page or follow this link; 'Mystery Of The 30946 Wilkinson First Pattern F-S Knives...Solved!'

It is unlikely that any collector, be they casual or more dedicated has not seen, heard about or read of those rare examples of First Pattern knives that are known to be stamped with the number ‘30946’.  Over the many years I have been studying these knives, I have positive records of only 37 known, surviving examples (as of writing).

Perhaps equally interesting as the 30946 number stamped into the pommel is the fact that nearly all known examples are accompanied by a separate number, the latter being marked in the same manner but on the opposing side of the pommel.  

With no number above 500 ever having been observed (to my knowledge) then the working hypothesis of a batch of issued knives numbered no more than 500 certainly seems to hold water.  This working theory has always been accepted within the F-S collecting community.  But what of the other serialized number of 30946?

After much research involving numerous friends and contacts in both Canada and the United Kingdom the 30946 numbers were finally identified and a group of numbers known as ‘Field Force Unit’ (serial numbers).  This specific number found on First Patterns was allocated to No9 Commando.  Subsequent similar numbers in this series were also allocated to other Commando units but to date no other First Patterns have been noted with this numbers.

The Reversed Crossguard

It is worth touching briefly on a minor production anomaly that has been seen only on a handful of First Pattern F-S Knives (four if my recollections are correct).  The ‘S’ shaped guard is normally assembled so when viewing the F-S etching with the blade pointing away from the user, the right side of the crossguard curves forward towards the blade.  However a few examples have been noted where the guard has been assembled the wrong way around.  I have on rare occasions here'd the strange claim that these knives were especially made for left-handed users..!  Of course this is complete fantasy.  The reality is that it is most likely a simple oversight by the individual who assembled the knife, nothing more.  Nevertheless it does leave us with another interesting detail to observe on these rare knives and one that is often overlooked.

Blank Ricasso

A few examples of the Wilkinson First Pattern F-S are known that have neither the Wilkinson company logo etching panel nor the familiar F-S etching, in other words the ricasso is left blank.  In all other respects these knives are completely correct and correspond perfectly to the standard (First) Pattern.  So what are we to make of this?

There has been much speculation over these knives and with so few examples, non with provenance and no documentation to clarify the situation, we are at this stage left to speculate.  I can see only two logical reasons for these omissions.

Perhaps the simplest explanation is that these knives were left blank in error and simply ‘slipped through the net’.  For one reason or another they were miss-placed, forgotten about or the etcher run out of etching panels, resulting in these few examples know that are ‘un-etched’.

This theory is completely possible of course and until proved otherwise has to remain a possibility.  However the more I think about it the more it seems unlikely.  Etching panels were essentially printed paper panels, so to run out of such a simply item seems on the face of it a little unlikely.  Also the concept that these were miss-place or altogether missed the process in some way, speaks to an unprofessionalism that doesn’t ring true.  It seems unlikely that Wilkinson’s highly skilled craftsmen (and women) would make such a significant error.  I could be wrong but those are just my thoughts.

I think it perhaps more likely that these ‘sterile’ knives were purposefully created this way to fulfill an order for the S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive).  This fledgling clandestine organization was well known to require their equipment to be unmarked and therefore untraceable.  Fairbairn and Sykes were known instructors within this organization and Silent Killing and the use of the F-S Knife was part of the S.O.E. syllabus.

Of course until any evidence or a knife with clear provenance surfaces to substantiate these theories, we will have to keep an open mind.  But for now at least the clandestine scenario seems more plausible.

The ‘E’ Etched First Pattern

Another seldom seen First Pattern F-S Knife that has long been the source of fascination and speculation are those handful of examples that contain the addition of a bold ‘E’ etched into the ricasso.  

The etching itself consists of a large lettered ‘E’ within a block and is placed just above the ‘F-S’ etching panel.  The ricasso on these knives appears to be slightly longer in order to accommodate the additional etching.  This is an important details as it implies forethought prior to the blades grinding and an intent to accommodate the ‘twin’ etchings.  That detail in and of itself would be strongly suggestive of these few knives having been created purposely for some, as yet, unknown reason.

The letter ‘E’ used for the etching is of the same size, font and type as the style used for the ‘F-S’ below it but is placed in a separate etching block centrally and above the standard ‘F-S’ etching.  Clearly this was not intended to be part of the standard etching design but a ‘special’ addition, one would presume for a small quantity of knives.

To further add to the story it would appear that these few ‘E’ etched knives conform to the those known to be of early ‘trials’ production (see the article: ‘The Earliest Trials Production First Patterns’).

As to the meaning of the ‘E’ etching well that’s the question that has confounded students of the F-S Knife for many a year.  Many theories have been suggested but with the lack of any evidence or even a viable theory with any weight to it, the mystery remains.

Transitional Knives

I use the term ‘transitional’ here deliberately but somewhat loosely.  By using the word transitional I’m referring to the time period around August of 1941 when the design was simplified and we see a transition from First to Second (pattern) production.  

As with all things in manufacturing it was not a simple black and white scenario of one day we are making this product and the next day another.  The reality seems clear that as the production of the F-S Knife transitioned over to the ‘new design’ there were boxes of part for both knives and scabbards that had to be used up and not waisted.  This has today left us with some interesting transitional knives and scabbards.  

First Patterns have been noted with straight crossguards (from the Second Pattern Type I) and Second Patterns (Type I’s) have been observed with the ’S’ shaped crossguard from a First Pattern.  Second Pattern (Type I) scabbards have also been noted having been assembled with First Pattern scabbard components. 

This transitional period also goes some way to explaining why on occasion we can encounter a First Pattern with a Second Pattern (Type I) scabbard and a Second Pattern (Type I) with a First Pattern scabbard - and in both cased seemingly original to the knife.  This last observation does need to be made with caution as knives/scabbards have often been swapped over the years, so is difficult to make any such attribution conclusively.

Some Closing Comments

Although comprehensive in content this article should be viewed as an introduction or overview of the original Wilkinson First Pattern F-S Fighting Knife.  As has been referenced in some sections there are further, more in-depth articles on specific topics which I encourage you to read.

I hope this has introduced you to the diversity within this fascinating F-S pattern and the potential for study and collecting.  There is still a great deal of research to do on this topic and the full story has not yet been told and if I'm truthful may never be.

Due to the extreme scarcity of so many of these early F-S Knives there are fakes out there, so please be cautious, especially when purchasing such knives for the first time.  Don’t be taken in by a ‘story’ and be especially cautious of any F-S (be it First Pattern or other) that does not conform in any way to those knives discussed or featured on these pages.

I hope that by now the reader has a more fuller understanding of the many aspects, production anomalies and fascinating ‘variations’ of First Patterns that it is possible to find.  They say patience is a virtue but in F-S collecting it is more of a necessity.

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