The dagger illustrated here came from an unknown source. It has a blade about ¼ inch thick and 4.75 inches long. The nicely ground blade is quite sharp. Clearly marked with A&P on the ricasso and on one branch of the aluminum guard. The initials stand for Alcock and Pierce, a sporting goods firm in Australia who made and/or sold edged weapons during WW-2. The hilt is some sort of wood, (Beech maybe?) not particularly attractive, but functional. The recess around the pommel leads me to believe that at one time it probably had a brass cap or ferrule of some sort. My first impression of the knife is how similar it is to a Shanghai dagger in size and shape.
I’ll admit it is a bit of a stretch, but we do know that as Shanghai was invaded by the Japanese Army many of the residents escaped to Australia. This included the SMP (Shanghai Municipal Police) armoury craftsmen who continued to make example of the Yeaton style dagger in Australia. We also know that W.E. Fairbairn did business with A&P. It is just possible that he might have directed the workman in the SMP (who made the daggers) to the shops of A&P looking for work. I carefully stoned out a burr caused by a nick in one side of the blade where it had collided with another blade at some time. Typical of wooden grips there is a shrinkage crack and also the handle is loose on the tang. It came with what appears to be its original sheath, in less than mint condition. The knife is large enough to make a good back up blade for emergency use, but in combat I would not want to depend on a blade this short as my primary killing weapon.
I’ll admit it is a bit of a stretch, but we do know that as Shanghai was invaded by the Japanese Army many of the residents escaped to Australia. This included the SMP (Shanghai Municipal Police) armoury craftsmen who continued to make example of the Yeaton style dagger in Australia. We also know that W.E. Fairbairn did business with A&P. It is just possible that he might have directed the workman in the SMP (who made the daggers) to the shops of A&P looking for work. I carefully stoned out a burr caused by a nick in one side of the blade where it had collided with another blade at some time. Typical of wooden grips there is a shrinkage crack and also the handle is loose on the tang. It came with what appears to be its original sheath, in less than mint condition. The knife is large enough to make a good back up blade for emergency use, but in combat I would not want to depend on a blade this short as my primary killing weapon.
RSS Feed
