Trench knife, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 1916 (c)

Knife designed and patented by Felix Joubert, 1916.

This trench knife was produced during World War One (1914-1918) for Thomas Evelyn Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, for use by his unit, the 9th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

Howard de Walden was a veteran of the Boer War (1899-1902), an Olympic fencer with an interest in arms and armour. Its designer, Felix Joubert, claimed the leaf blade design was based on a historic Welsh weapon, hence the name by which it has become known, the 'Welsh Knife', but there is no real evidence for this. The fearsome looking blades are reported to have been carried by the unit's Lewis gunners as well as soldiers involved in trench raiding.