Sykes fairbairn knife out of the woodwork

[Ken N]

A friend of mine just got this knife at a garage sale. The bronze handle has corrosion but it looks like it won't cause pits.

The cross-guard is 3mm thick and has a broad-arrow/21 mark. Also "england" stamped onto the cross guard.

The scabbard has "england" stamped into it at the rear.

The blade is nearly immaculate with 99% blue.

can anybody ID the probable vintage? Should the handle be cleaned? Any idea of a value? He does want to sell it.

[lnijherald]

Ken, this 100% sure a good WW2 3rd pattern F/S fighting knife. Shipped to the US after the war, that is why it is marked "england".

I wouldn't clean it personally, but if your friend wants to maximise sales it may not be a bad idea to remove the verdigris (try Brasso).
Value is hard to say, this is the most common pattern of all of them but it will probably sell for around 100GBP.

Cheers, Luc

[Standard_Sean]

I saw one at an aution going for 600 USD. It was in such a fine shape as your friends Ken, except for the corrosion.

[lnijherald]

600 USD.

For a 3rd pattern? Man I spent half that sum on my 2nd pattern last year!
Cheers, Luc

[Standard_Sean]

It was for a British Paratrooper

[Adrian Stevenson]

Agreed, a third pattern knife exported to the USA.

Hi Sean, any kind of provenance will increase the price of an item. If the knife you saw was carried by a Paratrooper this would certainly help on the value.

Cheers, Ade.

[Ken N]

many thanks men. I appreciate the ID and the opinions as to value.

[Luftwaffe44]

Does anyone know when till when the 3rd pattern was produced?

Thanks in advance,

Edgar

[lnijherald]

Hi Edgar,
It's still on NATO stock lists today. To date an example you would have to look at the stampings.
Cheers, Luc