1st Pattern F-S knife Enquiry

Dear All,

There is a bit of ongoing debate amongst the serious knife collecting community about the manufacture of the 1st pattern Wilkinson Sword F-S knife with the 3" guard.

It is not known if the knife with the long guard was ever manufactured during the war years, or if this may have been a post-war addition.

If anyone here could shed light on this with memories of ever seeing this specific knife type during the war, it would be of invaluable assistance.

My thanks in advance,

Paul Macdonald

Hello Macdonald

I far as I can ascertain only a very few of the 1st pattern you depict were MFG at a very early stage.......they were a prototype. The 3 inch cross guard caught on clothing when drawn and was very quickly replaced with a two inch cross guard.

The 3 inch cross guard version has been bootlegged quite a bit after the war hoping to attract collectors.
I think the sheath in your picture looks like an original but I'm not sure of the knife.

Perhaps Ron Lain can help .....he is the forum knife expert.

Hope this helps a bit.
Regards
John M

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply and help.

What we are looking for at the moment is any evidence of the 3" guard being either manufactured, seen, issued, carried or returned during the war years.

Personal testimonies may be our only record, as the original Wilkinson records no longer exist (if in fact this version of the knife did at that time).

Any further help would be much appreciated and any anecdotal evidence, no matter how small, is always helpful.

All the best,

Macdonald