Another Fake, Really?

I have to make a correction to my wording. One of my most ardent viewers noted a discrepancy in my story here and my response to him. I did not ask my friend to post my photos, I "gave him permission" to post the photos. I warned him it would likely raise a ruckus and it did. Within hours he had an answer. It was not the one I expected. Several people immediately said it was a fake. “A fake what,” I asked. The knife was clearly marked “Pooley Sword” and came in a fitted Pooley sword case. It

is a lovely knife but it is not a fake. The man I got it from provided the original invoice for the knife on Pooley Stationary. The experts still said it was a fake. The original owner conveyed his interchange of emails with a man who is very familiar with the Wilkinson and Pooley sword companies. The owner tried to jog this man’s memory about having requested a plain brass handle and he said the man at Pooley's personally picked one out of a bin of old Wilkinson sword parts. But his response was he denied any part in it and said it was a bit of this and a bit of that thrown together, a fake. The people on the forum said that the man I got it from must be mistaken because Pooley sword would never put a non-conforming handle on one of their knives. My friend said they did exactly what he asked them to do and he said the invoice reflects that. No, said the forum members must be you provided the handle. And on and on this argument went. Once again I was dealing with people who had never held the knife in question, had never talked to Pooley sword, and who used all of their collective experience to refute the word of the man who had personally ordered the knife. Their justification was based purely on what they knew, which did not jive with what was presented before their eyes, ergo it was a fake. So I finally emailed the president of the Pooley Sword company for his take on the whole thing. All I wanted was an answer as to where the handle came from. I was not claiming fraud, or looking for restitution of some sort, because I love the knife. The General Manager graciously responded to my enquiry and assured me that the handle was indeed from an inventory of Wilkinson parts that Pooley bought when Wilkinson Sword went out of the knife making business. She said they had installed it on my friend’s knife five years ago and she hoped that it had not caused me any grief. I owe this woman a fine dinner if I ever get back to England. See how simple that was! I should have gone to Pooley first instead of relying upon the opinions of experts. I am trying to finish writing my book on Fairbairn-Sykes knives but it seems as though every week or month I come into contact with a new variety I have never seen before. They are legitimate WW-II knives but according to the protocol established by this particular forum, since I have never seen one of these knives before I must immediately label it as a fake. You know, I don’t go to that forum much anymore. It has all the ambiance of the Spanish Inquisition. While there is a lot of very good information there, one has to tread very lightly or get pounced upon for having upset one of their sacred cows. Who was it said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? Sometimes that can also be said of the people with a lot of knowledge who then presume to be all-knowing. My mother always told me: “If you don’t know what you’re talking about just shut up.” I was a very quiet child.