Well gang the book is coming along but it is not finished. The bad news is I had to break it into two volumes. There was so much material I would have had to throw half of it out if I wanted to fit everything into one volume. What would be the sense in that? It is still over two hundred pages long, heavily illustrated, and not finished. I spent hundreds of hours on it this summer and hoped it would be done before I started back teaching at college.

I actually redid the whole front end of the book to include some examples of iconic WW-I fighting knives and provide some background into the knives that Fairbairn and Sykes could have referenced before finalizing their design.  I am of the opinion that Fairbairn had a rethink of how he wanted the new knife to be modified from the Shanghai F-S model. These changes were based on the difference between fighting Chinese gangsters in light weight clothing, to killing soldiers in heavy uniforms and battle gear. I believe his long voyage home from Shanghai gave him time to reflect on these changes. His basic design was solid, but it needed “beefed up.”

Fairbairn also knew one of the major obstacles he would face was finding a manufacturer who would make what he wanted, the way he wanted it, and who was not already operating at full capacity. We all know who ended up making the first ones. They made hundreds of thousands of them, but were they his first choice? I have the answer to that question in the book.

Daily I check on Ebay for new listings of commando knives. Quite often I find the same knives going around like a child's Merry-go-Round. Why is that? Many of them are very mediocre third pattern knives in awful condition and listed as "Rare." Now I have been known to buy some really beat-up knives if there was any historical value. But, a badly rusted and abused third pattern is just junk. People have bought them and used them for throwing knives, digging in the flower bed, stirring paint, prying open doors or cans or whatever and bent or snapped the tips.

A broken tip does not make them valuable, rust is not a value added patina, deep gouges from some idiot using a power grinder to "sharpen" the knife is not attractive. A cheap 3rd pattern knife in the 60s or 70s could be purchased for under $20.00. Because it is now 40 years old does not make it any more valuable because most of them were cheap junk when Sheffield was cranking them out by the thousands. When I see a cheaply built and badly mauled 3rd pattern for sale for $400.00 I have to ask, is it ignorance or greed? Surely inflation has not added that much to the worth of a worthless knife.

Second pattern knives are different. They were produced in far smaller numbers for a shorter period of time and with greater quality invested in them. Still, now I see people asking upwards of $1,000.00 for a beat up second pattern! I realize they are not making WW-II knives anymore but really, $1,500.00 for a 2nd pattern? I sometimes worry that my website has played a part in this escalation of prices. I hope that instead it would steer people to buy more wisely and not be suckered by all of the falsely patinated Pakistani reproductions. I see several on Ebay right now advertised as genuine WW-II, foot locker find, estate purchases, etc. Many of them are anything but what they claim to be. Earlier in the year I got taken by a 2nd pattern that was purportedly a grandfathers original 2nd pattern. When it arrived I instantly knew i had "been took." It was a modern Nowill & Sons with the finish removed. Maybe the sellers Grandfather lied to him about the knife. I doubt it! Maybe there wasn't even a grandfather involved. But I only got taken for $100.00. I can stand that but if you buy a "genuine" WW-II commando knife for $500.00 plus and it turns out to be a modern Pakistani knife that's another thing.

I hope, foolishly perhaps, that sellers will police themselves morally and try to offer an honest appraisal of their wares. The caveat that "I am not an edged weapons specialist," or "I don't know much about knives" is not sufficient to excuse you from ripping off buyers. Do some homework. If you are selling on ebay you know how to use the internet. Do some research. Putting "rare" in front of a piece of junk does not make it valuable or rare. If you bought it for $15.00 at a flea market or garage sale and mark it up to $350.00 (knowing it is at best only a $15.00 knife) that's not capitalism, that's not good business, that is just pure greed. Rant over

Walnut Handled Dagger: Our second Shanghai Dagger, with the walnut handle, came from the collection of Bill Windrum via Pete Hooker. Pete expressed a desire for his knife to go to a “good collection” and he gave me a price that made it possible. Thanks Pete!    

According to Dr. Windrum, Kelly Yeaton identified this exact same knife as matching, in size, one he owned.  Kelly referred to his as “an early prototype,” sent to him from Shanghai in 1934. (This turned out to be the knife known as the “Pilot Model.”) Our dagger is stamped on the tang as being made in 1933 and has a nicely turned walnut handle. Unlike later Shanghai daggers the handle profile is a full round in cross-section, not a flattened oval shape.

Our Walnut handled knife is the exact same knife illustrated in Windrum’s book “The Earliest Commando Knives,” page 23. A better photo of it can be found in the book “Military Knives: A Reference Book.”[1] However, despite believing it to be a legitimate knife Dr. Windrum candidly states: “there is nothing about it to link it to a bayonet blade.” I am not sure what prompted Dr. Windrum to say this. I laid Pete‘s Shanghai dagger on top of an original, unaltered, 1888 Lee-Metford bayonet and the two are absolutely identical to within a hair’s breadth. It is my opinion that a skilled craftsman may have simply ground the blade a little thinner and in the process erased the hollow grinds and flat spot on the central spine of the original bayonet blade. I have proof of this happening in several of the half-converted knives I own. Of course it is also possible the maker simply traced the tip of a bayonet blade onto a blank piece of steel, using it as a pattern for this blade and others.


[1] “Military Knives: A  Reference Book” Knife world publications, page 80

I just got back from a 2 week vacation in Idaho. We own land out there and plan to eventually build a home on the 40 acres. It is near a small town. My daughter and I spied a small building for rent in town. We both said it was a perfect place for THE Commando Knife Museum. Someday, maybe, heck I traveled to Spean Bridge in Scotland to the Commando Museum. All they had was one 3rd pattern on display!

I bought a new second pattern B2 with an aluminum handle! It is in mint condition and comes in a commercial style (but custom made) sheath. With my purchase my good friend in the west has also gifted me with an unusual wood handled knife. Once they arrive I’ll post the photos. He says it might be post war and perhaps India-made. I don’t care, it’s a really unique looking handle. Wood handled knives do not have the mass to give the same feeling you get with an alloy or brass handle. It’s sort of a hard thing to describe since it is completely a tactile experience.

My friend also sent me a small library of original WW-II commando books. I don’t know what I did to deserve such good karma. Maybe it’s the stray cats I’ve rescued, two of them who feel like they need to lay on my keyboard as I type. Anyway, the package included two original copies of “Get Tough,” “All in Fighting,” “Hands-Off,” “Commando Ju-Jitsu” “Lightning Ju-Jitsu,” and “Guerilla Warfare”.  Pretty cool collection of combat text books from the day.

There are a few great knives still for sale from this man. He guarantees your satisfaction with them. If not you pay the postage back and he’ll refund your money. You cannot do better than that.