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One of the most famous military fighting knives, the Fairbairn-Sykes knife (also know as the commando knife and still popular among British royal marine commandoes today) is a double edged bladed weapon with distinctive vase grip. It was developed by two members of the Shanghai municipal police, William Ewart Fairbairn and E A Sykes just before the Second World War. Fairbairn’s passion was unarmed combat and the knife was designed by him as part of a self defence program which he invented to reduce the number of deaths and injuries being suffered by the Shanghai police in fights and arrests.
It was recognised that Fairbairn’s experience and skill could be used to improve the unarmed combat ability of the newly developing British Commandoes and other British Special forces, such as the newly created SAS and SOE. The weapon is more versatile than more traditional weapons and is normally nicely weighted for throwing and can be used to slash or stab. The association with the commandos is such that it forms part of their uniform badge and a solid gold version is on the Commando memorial in Westminster Abbey.
Unlike the US Marine KA-Bar the fighting knife is just that, designed purely for a killing weapon normally in a surprise attack and is useless as a utility tool. The design makes it ideal for slipping between the ribs and into vital organs or up through the base of the skull and into the brain in a rear attack, a method which can silence a sentry very effectively. The edge is keen so that any artery is cleanly cut as torn arteries tend to contract and reduce bleeding, the balance is ideal so that a firm grip means the weapon doesn’t get pulled from your hand when striking.
Several versions were made, the original having a blade length of about 5 ½ inches but over various versions this lengthened to about 7 inches. Some variation on grip was also produced but this was not met by approval from Fairbairn and Sykes who claimed the ring grip could be slippy when wet. The blade length was so that it could penetrate deep into the vital organs once through any clothing worn by the target. The success of the knife lead to many companies creating their own versions which were seen in conflict areas such as Korea and Vietnam and it remains an extremely popular style, a real tribute to the knowledge of its original designers. One of the problem was that many forces were issued a knife in a similar style but lacked the training to use the knife to its full potential. Major Fairbairn also taught some other groups as well as British commandos and OSS his fighting style but some found his methods extremely brutal and were considered by some to be less than ‘decent’ an attitude which Fairbairn found ridiculous in war with a weapon designed to kill. Fairbairn’s combat style, sometimes called ‘All in fighting’, is certainly brutal and uses any trick to give the attacker an edge, the commando knife being a perfect compliment for this technique.