
Online Collection
Pattern 1907 sword bayonet, 1916 (c)
Manufactured by J A Chapman, Sheffield.
The British soldier's main weapon of World War One, the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle, Mk III*, was designed to be fitted with a bayonet. The addition of this fearsome blade gave the Tommy a reach of over a metre in hand-to-hand combat. However, a rifle fitted with a bayonet could prove unwieldy in the close confines of a trench system. Many experienced soldiers therefore preferred to use improvised clubs, knives or knuckledusters. The bayonet was nevertheless a handy tool and soldiers were as likely to use them for cooking and eating as fighting.
NAM Accession Number
NAM. 1986-06-2-1
Copyright/Ownership
Not NAM Copyright, Returned Loan
Location
National Army Museum, Study Collection
Object URL
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1986-06-2-1