Editing Dagger (section)

===Modern period (19th–21st century)===
{{main|Combat knife}}
[[File:Ek knives.JPG|thumb|left|20th-century daggers]]

WW1 trench warfare caused daggers and fighting knives to come back in play. They also replaced the sabres worn by officers, which were too long and clumsy for trench warfare. They were worn with pride as a sign of having served front-line duty.

Daggers achieved public notoriety in the 20th century as ornamental uniform regalia during the Fascist dictatorships of Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. Several other countries, including Japan, have used dress daggers, but never to the same extent. As combat equipment, they were carried by many infantry and [[commando]] forces during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. British Commando and other elite units were issued an exceedingly slender dagger, the [[Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife]], developed by [[William E. Fairbairn]] and [[Eric A. Sykes]] from real-life close-combat experiences gained while serving on the Shanghai Municipal Police Force.<ref name="cas"/><ref>Chambers, John W., ''OSS Training in the National Parks and Service Abroad in World War II'', Washington, D.C., U.S. National Park Service (2008), p. 191: Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in his twenty-year career in Shanghai, where he organized and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of his body – arms, legs, torso, and even the palms of his hands was covered with scars from knife wounds from those fights.</ref> The F-S dagger proved very popular with the commandos, who used it primarily for sentry elimination. Some units of the [[Marine Raiders|U.S. Marine Corps Raiders]] in the Pacific were issued a similar fighting dagger, the [[United States Marine Raider stiletto|Marine Raider stiletto]],<ref>Walker, Greg, ''Battle Blades: A Professional's Guide to Combat/Fighting Knives'', Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press, {{ISBN|0-87364-732-7}} (1993), p. 77</ref> though this modified design proved less than successful when used in the type of knife combat encountered in the Pacific theater<ref>Alexander, Joseph H., ''Edson's Raiders: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion in World War II'', Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, {{ISBN|1-55750-020-7}} (2001), p. 67</ref><ref>Sledge, E. B., ''With The Old Breed: At Peleleiu and Okinawa'', Presidio Press, {{ISBN|978-0-89141-919-8}} (2007), pp. 21–22</ref> due to this version using inferior materials and manufacturing techniques.<ref>McCarthy, John (2008). "WWII Marine Raider Stiletto Reborn". Raider Patch (U.S. Marine Raider Association).</ref>

During the Vietnam War, the [[Gerber Mark II]], designed by US Army Captain Bud Holzman and Al Mar, was a popular fighting knife pattern privately purchased by many U.S. soldiers and marines who served in that war.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Aside from military forces, most daggers are no longer carried openly, but concealed in clothing. One of the more popular forms of the concealable dagger is the ''[[boot knife]]''. The boot knife is nothing more than a shortened dagger that is compact enough to be worn on the lower leg, usually using a sheath clipped or strapped to a boot or other footwear.<ref name=des>{{cite journal |last = Steele |first = David |title = Boot Knife Fighting |journal = Black Belt |volume = 26 |issue = 4 |pages =48–51 |publisher = Active Interest Media, Inc. |year = 1988 }}</ref>
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