Fighting knife of a Canadian paratrooper

This "Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife" was found near Bergerfurth in the early 1980s. This type of combat knife was developed for the British special forces, known as "Commandos." British paratroopers were equipped with this type of knife during "Operation Varsity". 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was part of the British Parachute Brigade which landed on drop zone "A" between Mehrhoog and Bergerfurth. A trooper of the Canadian unit lost this dagger in a heavily contested wooded area. The name H A BEZO is clearly legible on the upper part of the scabbard, as is a personal identification number of the pattern used in the Canadian Army: K 3051.

The owner was Herbert Adam Bezo, born on July 16th, 1925, in Inglis, Manitoba. His parents had immigrated to Canada from Poland. When he went into action in Bergerfurth, the then 19-year-old was serving as a private in the Canadian Parachute Battalion. Herbert A. Bezo survived the war, but he only lived to the age of 34. In 1960, he died in a work accident as a lumberjack in Lois Lake, British Columbia.