Devil's Brigade

Those of you who are WW-II afficianados or edged weapons collectors may have heard of the Devil's Brigade. This was the American First Special Service Force, a force of exceptional men and weapons. Their signature weapon was the Case V-42. The V-42 is a unique dagger unlike any other issued then or since. There is no sense in me re-writing the history when you can check out the following website for more detailed information. I will be posting more photos on our website in the next few days. http://www.survivalcache.com/forums/showthread.php?100-FSSF-V42-Fighting-Knife or this one: http://www.armyhistory.org/ahf2.aspx?pgID=877&id=387&exCompID=56

web site

I have been busy again adding new material to our website on fairbairn sykes fighting knives. http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/ Check out the section on third pattern knives, V-42,and commemoratives. The above selection of knives are from Wilkinson Sword Co. and were marketted through the American Historical Foundation. They are featured on our website now. Enjoy!

Very Neat Dagger

Here is an interesting little WW-II style dagger I recently bought. It fits into the category of "Theater Made" knives although it was professionally made. The blade is only 5.5 inches long but it is a lethal bit of steel.

There are absolutely no markings to let us know the nationality or the maker. Most likely it is English or possibly American. Three professional style cutlery rivets affix the handle scales. The handle has the same look to it as a kitchen knife. Could someone have ground down a larger butcher knife and added a guard from the front? I briefly had that thought but a close look with a magnifying glass showed the guard butted up against the blade from the back side. I cannot tell whether the handle scales are wood or some phenolic material. It looks a lot like the work of the mysterious John Paisley, even the size and shape of the oval nickle silver guard. But since it lacks any stampings of any kind I guess we'll never know who made it, or who carried it.

http://www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com/

Pleasant Distraction

Working on my new web site has been a pleasant and probably a healthy distraction from the news and politics in general. Besides my regular job, which has become a bore, and waiting for Spring to come, life has gone on with a certain lingering trepdation for "what next." Its Sunday morning and I have added some more material and photos to the website while watching the news. The temperature outside is 7 deg F. and not looking like it will rise much above that. Still as Obama says things could be worse. Don't you always hate it when politicians say that? His latest words gave me a chill: "the government that you have is not the government you want." He knows what you want, and to acomplish this he is asking for the power to downsize govt. This flies in the face of everything he has done so far. We know from past, and recent, experience if he is not given what he wants, he will just seize it. What does he have in mind to downsize? The TSA, DHS, the number of czars in his cabinet, welfare, obamacare, NO. Maybe he will just dissolve Congress and the judiciary in order to give us what we want.

So I am going to keep this one short and go back to working on my website and bury my head back in the sand. I have added a lot of stuff. How about if you watch the news and let me know how it turns out.

I forgot to explain the knives in the photo. The top one is by an unknown maker, could be Australian, not sure. The middle one is a French "Avenger", could be WW-I or WW-II because they used the same design for that long. The bottom one is handmade from the blade of a WW-II "Nazi Youth's Dagger" or so I was told. They are interesting knives anyway.

Castle Knife Fairbairn Sykes

Sorry, I fixed the links in this post so they go to the right places : ) This is a page from my new website. We invite you to go check it out. www.fairbairnsykesfightingknives.com

These two knives were produced by the beneficence of Mr. William Cassidy and they come with quite a story. I first saw an advertisement for them in the pages of “Soldier of Fortune” magazine. Yes at the time I fancied I might like to pursue the life of a mercenary. To my eternal benefit my wife did not share that same enthusiasm. So to assuage my stunted dreams of life in the Congo I ordered a copy of Wm. Cassidy’s lovely Fairbairn Sykes knife. It cost all of seventy five dollars plus shipping. I mailed off a check and before too long it arrived in a shipping tube with some paperwork. If I had been more visionary I would have found the means to order a dozen of them.

Rather than infringe on Mr. Cassidy’s copyright I will provide you with a link so that you may read his interesting story in full. Cassidy’s knife is a sweet amalgamation of several designs which results in a very unique but functional and highly attractive knife. For example: it’s handle is
reminiscent of the OSS Stiletto, having the same coarse knurling which runs all the way to the guard. The guard itself is nickel plated and “S” curved, very much like those on a P-1. The blade is
comparable to a thin bladed P-2 or P-3 and delivered sharp. Unlike the late war P-3s the blade is well finished with a near-mirror polish. The blades were then etched with Wm. Fairbairn’s signature also exhibit the traditional F~S logo near the guard. In profile, the blades resemble the OSS stiletto.

In the years since, I have picked up a couple more, these being the sterile ones which sold for eighty dollars. You can rest assured that I did not buy them for that price at the later date. The knives came equippedwith a commercial style sheath which was well made of fine leather. Should you have the fortune to come across one it is a viable fighting knife with a nice story to tell, and I recommend you buy it. My personal thanks to Mr. Cassidy and the British workmen for producing these fine knives. http://fl-websites.com/time/fs/castleco.htm