Image from "The Ultimate Spy Book" by H.Keith Melton. © 1996 DK Publishing. Used by permission.

Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife

Designed by two British officers based on their experience in close-quarters combat with the Shanghai police, the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife was a standard commando weapon in World War II and throughout the postwar years.

Originally deployed in 1941, the knife was designed to allow a trained commando to strike accurately at a target's vital organs. It remained in use, with various revisions, into the 1990s.