A third pattern Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife with a 17cm stiletto style blade with high central spine that shows heavy sharpening. The cast blackened handle, with twenty-seven concentric rings, is marked with a "6" which indicates the mold that was used to make it. The knife has a straight 2" wide crossguard. The brown leather scabbard has a round tipped, riveted on, blackened brass fitting to the bottom and raised, stitched spine to reverse. Sewn to the spine are leather tabs that were used for stitching the sheath to clothing. Riveted to the top of the scabbard is a leather tab with slashes for leg straps. The Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife came about through the need for a good fighting knife for the newly formed commando units. W. E. Fairbairn, E. A. Sykes and Robert Wilkinson Latham of the Wilkinson Sword Company, had a meeting in November of 1940 at which W. E. Fairbairn and E. A. Sykes described the knife they wanted and preliminary sketches were drawn up and the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife was created. There were three major patterns of the knife produced.