Hi Guys, here is one of the star items from my collection. It is a first pattern Fairburn-Sykes "commando" knife. There were only 1,250 of these knifes made. They came in two versions. This is the second version with the smaller crossguard. (The first had a 3" recurved crossguard.) These knives were totally hand made.
What makes this knife special is that I bought it direct from the Veteran. His name was Frank Barton. Frank is still alive and is a great guy. Here is his story.
Frank started his military life in the Fusiliers. He did not like this as there was not enought action for his liking. So he volunteered for the Army Commandos. Frank was keen on PT and cross country running and was fairly fit and passed the grueling tests. Life in the Commandos was great according to Frank. There was the extra pay, plus they lived in billets, and were housed by local families (in Scotland) and they were paid an allowance to pay for their keep, which also made a little extra cash
. Frank was in No.6 Commando. Frank was issued the knife, but never used it in anger. More about this later. He carried it on a raid to Norway, but this was cancelled before they got to the target. Frank's claim to fame was that he got the steer the Destroyer they were traveling on as he was bored and could not sleep, so he managed to get onto the Bridge and talked the sailor into letting him steer the ship!
Frank took part in the Invasion of North Africa in late 1942. His unit were dressed as Americans with M1 helmets, M41 jackets and complete with M1 semi auto Garand rifles. This was in order to fool the Vichy French. It was suspected that they might fire upon British troops but were perhaps more inclined to let "US" forces land unopposed. Frank wanted to keep the rifle as it was superior to the bolt action .303 Enfield. Frank's unit fought through North Africa, but his section was eventually cut off by a German counter attack and were surrounded. Short of ammo and with several wounded, they decided to surrender. Frank was shipped out to a PoW camp in Italy. During his stay he was reunited with his brother who was in another unit and had also been taken prisoner in North Africa. Frank's mother wrote to the Pope and managed to get them placed in the same PoW camp. With the Italian surrender in May 1943, Frank made good his escape and rejoined his unit. He was not welcomed back with open arms but instead got a bollocking from his CO for disgracing the unit by not fighting to the last man! As a punisment he was made to re-do his commando training.
I asked Frank how come he still had the knife. His answer was very honest. he said he and many others were actually scared to carry them in action. He said that they were worried that this type of knife might be against the rules of war and also that it marked you out as a Commando soldier. This could be fatal later in the war due to Hitlers infamous "Kommando order" that no Brits were to be taken PoW from these units any more. As a result, Frank left his knife in his billet with his landlady, hence it's mint condition today.
Frank went in on D Day and fought throughout the rest of the war in North West Europe. He later made Sgt. With the end of the war the Army Commandos were disbanded. Frank liked military life and wanted to stay in. However this would mean a return to the Fusiliers. Not a good thing. The Brtish regimental tradition is not forgiving to those who leave the Regt. to join fancy elite units! So Frank volunteered for the Parachute Regt. he was shipped out to Palestein and did his jump training there. He served in 2nd Battalion. Frank finally left the Army in the early 1950's.
Hope you have enjoyed reading about Frank? Here are the pics of his knife.
Cheers, Ade.
What makes this knife special is that I bought it direct from the Veteran. His name was Frank Barton. Frank is still alive and is a great guy. Here is his story.
Frank started his military life in the Fusiliers. He did not like this as there was not enought action for his liking. So he volunteered for the Army Commandos. Frank was keen on PT and cross country running and was fairly fit and passed the grueling tests. Life in the Commandos was great according to Frank. There was the extra pay, plus they lived in billets, and were housed by local families (in Scotland) and they were paid an allowance to pay for their keep, which also made a little extra cash
. Frank was in No.6 Commando. Frank was issued the knife, but never used it in anger. More about this later. He carried it on a raid to Norway, but this was cancelled before they got to the target. Frank's claim to fame was that he got the steer the Destroyer they were traveling on as he was bored and could not sleep, so he managed to get onto the Bridge and talked the sailor into letting him steer the ship! Frank took part in the Invasion of North Africa in late 1942. His unit were dressed as Americans with M1 helmets, M41 jackets and complete with M1 semi auto Garand rifles. This was in order to fool the Vichy French. It was suspected that they might fire upon British troops but were perhaps more inclined to let "US" forces land unopposed. Frank wanted to keep the rifle as it was superior to the bolt action .303 Enfield. Frank's unit fought through North Africa, but his section was eventually cut off by a German counter attack and were surrounded. Short of ammo and with several wounded, they decided to surrender. Frank was shipped out to a PoW camp in Italy. During his stay he was reunited with his brother who was in another unit and had also been taken prisoner in North Africa. Frank's mother wrote to the Pope and managed to get them placed in the same PoW camp. With the Italian surrender in May 1943, Frank made good his escape and rejoined his unit. He was not welcomed back with open arms but instead got a bollocking from his CO for disgracing the unit by not fighting to the last man! As a punisment he was made to re-do his commando training.
I asked Frank how come he still had the knife. His answer was very honest. he said he and many others were actually scared to carry them in action. He said that they were worried that this type of knife might be against the rules of war and also that it marked you out as a Commando soldier. This could be fatal later in the war due to Hitlers infamous "Kommando order" that no Brits were to be taken PoW from these units any more. As a result, Frank left his knife in his billet with his landlady, hence it's mint condition today.
Frank went in on D Day and fought throughout the rest of the war in North West Europe. He later made Sgt. With the end of the war the Army Commandos were disbanded. Frank liked military life and wanted to stay in. However this would mean a return to the Fusiliers. Not a good thing. The Brtish regimental tradition is not forgiving to those who leave the Regt. to join fancy elite units! So Frank volunteered for the Parachute Regt. he was shipped out to Palestein and did his jump training there. He served in 2nd Battalion. Frank finally left the Army in the early 1950's.
Hope you have enjoyed reading about Frank? Here are the pics of his knife.
Cheers, Ade.
I do recognise it from the King & Country book. Weird how the description was totally wrong? 
I know a NO.10 commando vet but sadly he no longer still has his wartime dagger. He was a diplomat after the war (really!) and due to travelling all over the world he lost alot of his memorabilia. He still has all his paperwork though (Award documents, Paybook, Commando Brevet etc..) and teases me with them every time I visit 
I called Frank and told him. He in turn contacted the auctioneers who told him they had decided to withdraw the dagger from this sale and place it in a forthcoming collectors sale. A month went by and the same thing happened, the sale went ahead, but no dagger was listed. I called Frank again and told him that they were messing him about. I had got visions of them having lost it. However, he went and recovered the dagger safely. Frank called me and said the dagger was now mine. I shot around to his home and gave him £300. This was some years ago now. Frank was over the moon 
This one has a badly sharpened and shortened blade too. 
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