Thompson Leroy. Fairbairn - Sykes Commando Dagger

Osprey Publishing Ltd ., — 2011 . — 81 p . — ISBN: 978-1-84908-432-1 The Fairbairn - Sykes Commando dagger has become iconic as the most widely recognized fighting knife in the world . The origins of the dagger can be traced to Shanghai in the 1930s where W . E . Fairbairn and US Marine officers including Sam Yeaton carried out experiments to develop what they considered the perfect knife for close combat . When Fairbairn and Sykes became instructors for the Commandos , they refined the design which would evolve into the classic Fairbairn - Sykes dagger . The dagger was first used during early Commando raids into occupied Europe but saw action in every theatre of World War II . US Rangers and Marines who had trained with the Commandos took their Fairbairn - Sykes daggers home , and this also influenced the development of American Special Forces daggers . The Fairbairn - Sykes remained in use with many units after the war . It has become a symbol of Commando and special forces units throughout the world.