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Fighting knives used by British commandos and SOE during WW2 |
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2nd
Pattern
Private
Purchase
knives. |
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Text and pictures by
Olof Janson unless otherwise stated. |
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Special
honour should be given to:
-
Robert Wilkinson-Latham,
-
Ron Flook,
- Roy Shadbolt.
Who
have given me much assistance.
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updated
2013-02-10
P rivate
Purchased knives from Wilkinson
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F-S Fighting
knives of the 2nd Pattern are sometimes found with scroll etching
on the blades. These are private purchased knives from Wilkinson. When
stocks permitted they sold knives to other members of the armed forces and
Britain's allies.
A
Private Purchase knife may be identified by having a name engraved in a scroll
on the blade but that is not for sure.
The price for the extra scroll was 1/6d!
Sometimes a Private Purchase knife is found without the scroll but you can never
know for sure if it is a Private Purchase or from Government Contracts.
These knives
were no different from any of the others supplied to Room 55a, Government
Store. These Private Purchase knives were not Government Inspection of
Wilkinson Inspection rejects as has been suggested by some collectors!
Wilkinson accepted small differences in length of the blades. They inspected
their own knives and these knives were by some strange reason not considered
as weapons like the bayonets. |
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A
Private Purchase knife 2nd Pattern made by Wilkinson Sword. |
Name scrolls on blades.
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There are two different styles of scrolls:
One for the initials |
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One for the full name.
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On Blue blade |
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Heavy scroll |
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Etching even on some Third Pattern F-S |
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Robert Wilkinson-Latham explains:
The
etcher here, because of the length of the inscription, was unable to use the
various scrolls from the etching plate so he has cut the two pieces of
scroll work from two pressings of the Wilkinson Trade mark etch plate,
spaced them on the blade and then hand lettered the inscription between the
two in Yellow Chromate paint.
To give the impression of a panel, he then has 'Stopped' the bright metal on
each edge of the blade and left and right of the inscription and scrolls
with Yellow Chromate paint, allowing it to dry before using the glass rod
and wool dipped in dilute Nitric acid to etch the blade.
Even
with the war on, always attention to detail at Wilkinsons!!!
(Courtesy of
Roy Shadbolt)
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Rare light etching on Black Private Purchase
2nd
Pattern knife.
(Courtesy of
John Fischer) |
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No sub
standard knives sold for Private Purchase FS Knives by Wilkinsons.
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I
have asked Robert Wilkinson Latham about a theory among some collectors:
“Did Wilkinson Sword use the shorter blades for commercial purposes,
because these blades did not fulfil the demands of
MoD.
What do you say about this conjecture?”
Robert
Wilkinson Latham
answered me:
No. At the time
Wilkinsons were still hand grinding the blades and orders had to be pushed
out in a rush. Remember there was NO Government inspection and as long as
the Wilkinson Inspector passed it, it was shipped. I have noticed they do
vary in the blade length but they certainly WERE NOT REJECTS and were
perfectly serviceable blades. NO SUB STANDARDS BLADES LEFT THE FACTORY
EVER!!!!
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Here is a splendid example of
a
Private Purchase
knife:
H.G. Giles F-S Commando
knife
from 1942 made by Wilkinson Sword.
(Courtesy of Roy Shadbolt)
Please visit Roy Shadbolt's
excellent website about these knives
The Wilkinson F-S Collection
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I want
to give special acknowledgement to these gentlemen, who assisted me with
material for this article:
Roy Shadbolt in USA. Please visit
his excellent website about these knives
The Wilkinson F-S Collection
John Fischer, USA
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[Top
of the page]
References:
|
Robert Wilkinson Latham |
His own web
site |
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Alan W. Locken |
Commando 1940 - 1945 |
|
Robert A. Burlein |
Allied Military Fightingknives |
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Ron Flook
|
British and Commonwealth military knives. |
|
Fredrick J. Stephens |
Fighting Knives |
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Frank Trzaska |
The O.S.S. Stiletto - Knife World February 1998. |
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Frank Trzaska |
The Raider Stiletto - Knife World July 1997 |
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Kelly Yeaton |
The First Commando Knives. |
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John Nowhill & son |
Sheffield |
|
Michigan
knives |
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|
Dr. William Windrum |
The earliest commando knivesAllan W. Locken – Commando
1940 - 1945. |
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