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Extraordinary & Important W.E. Fairbairn Owned Wilkinson Second Pattern F-S Fighting Knife

For the F-S collector it is hard to imagine a more historically important or rarer Wilkinson F-S Knife than an example from a small order placed with Wilkinson by W. E. Fairbairn himself. On the 21st May 1942 Wilkinson Sword processed order number 1193 for; “2 doz. F.S. Fighting Knife - Nickel. Blades etched Full Trade Mark and Warrant as Masonic Blades one side only. Special order Major W.E. Fairbairn.” This special and unique order by Fairbairn himself was for his personal use and to provide him with a small quantity of ‘his’ knife to give out as personal gifts, as such it is reasonable to conclude that those knives were actually in his personal possession and handled by Fairbairn himself, something that is so historically important, it’s hard to quantify. This knife is one of those knives..!

After Wilkinson Sword closed the knife making side of the business in 2005, my mentor and dear friend Robert (Wilkinson-Latham) spent weeks in the cellar frantically scanning all the historical documents pertaining to the production of the F-S Knife before they were all destroyed, he very generously shared all those scans with me. One of the more interesting finds was a Wilkinson internal memo (#22283) dated 21st May 1942 which clearly detailed the particulars of this special order for Major W.E. Fairbairn (see inset). I will share the full scan sent to me by Robert with the new owner of this important Wilkinson F-S Knife.

Only a very few examples of a knives from this order have ever surfaces - to date, this is only the third example I have ever personally seen. This rare knife does have some condition issues; it appears that at some point in its history it was stored poorly, likely resulting in some staining to the finish, as a result the knife looks to have been cleaned. There is some thinning to areas of the hilt’s plating, the pommel nut is original but has been tightened. The blades is full length at 6 7/8” but does show a lot of cleaning with light scratches throughout. There are some dark areas in the hard to clean places such around the crossguard but fortunately the long Masonic etching is still clear and readable. Despite these issues, for the F-S collectors, this represents one of the rarest and most desirable of all F-S Knives, an example that actually was originally owned, handled and ultimately gifted by Fairbairn himself.

Price: Sold

Items Code: #0900

Shipping is charged at a flat rare of $25 within the US or $40 for international (outside of the US). Tracking will be provided once shipped.