How about the most iconic knife ever made, yet somehow few know it's name, original purpose or the epic tale of its development.
The Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife.
The Commando knife used by the earliest special forces in WW2, including; The SAS, Royal Marines, Commandos, US Army Rangers, Marine Raiders, French Commandos, Belgian Commandos, Polish, Canadian, and Australian Commandos.
Today, the Fairbairn-Sykes knife features on the badges of many of the world's elite special forces and is recognised the world over, yet very little is actually known about this legendary knife.
Let's start with William Fairbairn, who is one of the most badass humans to ever live and an important figure in the development of mixed martial arts.
Fairbairn is the old guy above, he's credited with fighting more people than anyone else in history.
Fairbairn signed up for the Royal Marines at 16 and served in Asia. While he was serving he learned Judo and Jujitsu from a grandmaster and became the first westerner to attain a black belt in both arts. During his service he got into many fights and competed against Japanese soldiers and others in contests.
After leaving the Marines in 1907, Fairbairn moved to Shanghai and joined the Municipal Police. At this time Shanghai was riddled with criminal gangs and Fairbairn found himself getting into brutal fights. He eventually got stabbed and left for dead.
Only he didn't die, but like some real life John Wick, William Fairbairn survived and set about learning more martial art styles. He took up Boxing and learned Kung Fu from a bodyguard of the Empress of China, whom he met while drinking.
By 1910 Fairbairn had turned himself into a one man killing machine, and walked the streets armed with a fighting knife and Colt 1911 pistol, fighting crime.
During Fairbairn’s 32 year career leading the Shanghai police’s 'Raid Squad’ he stamped out dangerous organised crime in the city. This came at a cost: Fairbairn’s body was covered in scars from being in allegedly 600 plus street fights and brawls, while fighting outnumbered against countless criminal gangs. He supposedly survived multiple assassination attempts.
Fairbairn’s mixed martial art: Defendu, is credited with being the basis for the Israeli Krav Maga.
“Get tough, get down in the gutter, win at all costs. There’s no fair play, no rules except one: kill or be killed.” — Fairbairn.
Designing the knife:
While serving with the Shanghai police, Fairbairn befriended another officer named Eric Sykes and together they developed the ultimate fighting knife. By the beginning of WW2, the two friends had created a lethal weapon that interested many of the most elite raiding and clandestine units of the allied forces.
Specifically designed for silently killing enemies, the stiletto-like blade was 6.5″ long, a strong double edged blade which would hold a razor sharp edge, and had a comfortable handle that wouldn't slip from the hand when slick, capable of stabbing between ribs, reaching vital organs and sharp enough to cleanly cut arteries. This isn't a kitchen knife or a Swiss army knife, it's a lethal weapon designed for dispatching enemies.
In close-quarters fighting there is no more deadly weapon than the knife. In choosing a knife there are two important factors to bear in mind: balance and keenness. The hilt should fit easily in your hand, and the blade should not be so heavy that it tends to drag the hilt from your fingers in a loose grip. It is essential that the blade have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges, because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. If a main artery is cleanly severed, the wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die. - Fairbairn.
The Fairbairn-Sykes knife has been described as one of the most perfect, silent, killing weapons ever devised.
More than 2 million Fairbairn-Sykes knives were made during the Second World War and they were carried by practically all the elite allied units and were used to lethal effect in many missions.
The weapon was so revolutionary that it was immediately assimilated into the British Army. It became the standard-issue combat knife of the many variations of the Commandos, Airborne units, and the United States Marine Corps Raiders, during World War II.
William Fairbairn and Eric Sykes were both given promotions becoming military officers in 1940 and were recruited by the British Secret Service, where they began training members of the OSS. Both men spent the war teaching advanced hand to hand combat and knife fighting to elite allied units and operatives.
Fairbairn is credited with forming the first police SWAT team, creating an early bulletproof vest, and being one of the earliest pioneers of MMA. Today, his knife is worn as a badge of honour by the world's best special forces, yet so few know his tale.
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