THE BAYONET

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 306, 14 September 1918, Page 8

THE BAYONET

lIS EVOLUTION BELLIGERENTS' ARMS COMPARED (By Captain H. B. C. Pollard.) Tho arms of- the infantry man of all nations are the rifle and the bayonet. Despite tho progress of mechanical inventions and all tho improvements in weapons, the oldest weapon of all—the spear or pike, for that is what a bayonet really is—remains the best for close-quarter lighting. Most nations uso a long single-edged blade, but there is a wide variation in the precise length deemed most suitable, for the design of the bayonet is regulated by the length, weight, and poiso of the rifle to which it is to be attached. Thus the British bayonet is longer than the German to compensate for the shorter barrel of the British rifle. The French rille, on the other hand, is longer than either the British or the German, yet its bayonet also is longer. It has no cutting edges, but is simply a slender diamond-sectioned ■stilloto of special steel. This lightness and length makes the French rifle and bayonet a very dangerous weapon to encounter, and gives it an advantage of longer reach over tho shorter blade or sword type bayonet of. the Germans. The history of the bayonet is almost as old as the history of firearms, but it was long before it took shape as an attachment to tho Run or rifle itself. In the earliest days the heavy matchlock arquebus of tho foot soldier had to be supported not only ty the firer, but by a forked stick or crutch thrust into tho ground in front of him. This'served as a rest for the' barrel, and its iron-shod heel could also be used as a spike or spear if the oneiny came_ to closo quarters before there was time to reload. A little later it occurred to tho armourers of the period that tho staff could be made hollow to contain a blade which might be pushed in and out at will. These curious arquebus rests with the concealed blade were the ancestors of the bayonet, and wore known as "swine feathers." Gradually tho firearms became lighter and tho rest was abandoned, lhe foot soldier carrying a sword as , a supplementary weapon to the musket, until in 1647 Puyscgtir introduced at the siege of Ypres the idea of a short dagger blade set in a wooden plug grip which could ho inserted in the muzzle of tho musket, thus converting it to a pike. This invention hailed from Bayonne, whence the, name bayonet, ivhicli has ever since been, applied to nil white weapons used in combination with a fii'earni, The original plug bayonet was admittedy a great advance in armament, as musketeers were thus convertible at will into pikemen or shock troops, but tho manifest drawback of the device was that tho muskets -could not be fired so long as the bayonets were fixed. , In order to avoid this-complica-tion and bayonet was next made with an iron socket, which fitted round the musket barrel and bore the blade upc,n a cranked neck clear of tho li'.io of sight and line of fire. Tho mu&kcv could thus bo fired just as well with the bayonet in position as without, mid charging upon troops,.could retain tl'eir firo till closo upon the hostile rivuVs. This' device did not becomo common until about 1700, and in the aeantimo the English troops at Killecrankie were defeated largely because they used tl e old plug bayonet. The early bayonets were usually triangular in sectiou, and fluted with blood grooves, designed to inflict a serious and disabling wound. In wrenching the weapon clear, however, it was iio unusual thing for it to becomo detached and remain, in'the body. To prevent this, Sir John Moore, hi 1805, designed a bayonet socket fastening ' with a spring clip, so that it could not be easily removed by accident. This and the triangular bayonet remained as standards in , tho British service till the magazine rifle was adopted, and a special :hort sword bayonet, the predecessor of the present arms, was designed to fit it. Special troops such as tho Royal Engineers have been equipped in tho past with special bayonets, designed moro as combination tools than as weapons. Tho saw-back bavoiwt used on tho old Martini rifle was an instance of this special type of weapon, but at the best its balance was indifferent, and its utility as a bayonot weapon less than that of simplor types, wbilo as a saw or tool of any kind , proved it of little use. Tho bayonet is after all the last iesort,' the' last .weapon for use when all science- of war is swept away, and men are breast to breast in personal conflict. It is here that bayonet training tolls. ' Tho man who is confident and certain in his mastery of the arm invariably wins. Tho moment vlwn. the adversary falters is the moment lor the bayonet fighter. Then the irrasjstiblo steel drives home through ,he guard and the argument is closed.