The Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife is a British double edged dagger designed by William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes, drawing on the pair's experience with the Shanghai Municipal Police in China before the war. The first batch of fifty knives was produced in January 1941 by the Wilkinson Sword Company, and the design has a seven inch blade and an overall length of 11.5 inches with a distinctive foil like grip and an acutely tapered, sharply pointed blade optimized for thrusting though also capable of slashing. It became closely associated with British Commandos, Airborne Forces and the Special Air Service, and it gained particular fame during the Normandy landings in June 1944. The knife has remained in service with British special forces from 1941 to the present.
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