Posted 11 years ago
Chrisnp
(310 items)
As WWI loomed on the horizon, no army had as much faith in the spirit of the bayonet as France. The concept was “attaque à outrance” - the idea that massed French infantry could conquer an objective at the point of their bayonets though sheer élan. They were mistaken. The French even nicknamed their bayonet “Rosalie” after a song of the era. The Germans called the French bayonets “knitting needles.”
These are two Model 1886 Lebel bayonets. The French called this style an épée bayonet, after the épée sword used in fencing, because of the cruciform cross section of the blade. Both bayonets have 20 ½ inch (52.7 cm) long blades, but they can be found in various lengths as the blades were often repointed when the tip broke off in field use. The French also modified many of these bayonets in 1935 by shortening them.
Originally the bayonets had a nickel-silver handle and a hooked quillion. By 1916, with the need to conserve nickel for the war effort, the handles were made of brass. About the same time they were manufactured without the quillion, I assume because the French discovered the quillions were more apt to get caught on equipment straps than catch the downward thrust of an enemy bayonet.
My 1886 Lebel bayonet with combination of brass handle and quillion is a rather scarce example of the bayonet in transition. The handle has lost its patina because someone along the way decided to polish it and cover it with lacquer. The other bayonet without quillion is a typical post-1916 example.
Thanks for the love vanskyock24, Militarist, walksoftly, pw-collector, vetraio50 and Roycroftbooksfromme1.
Thanks for the love petey and blunder.
I'm a bit of a newby at this stuff. I have inherited a rosalie bayonet. It looks like the one on the right of both your two centre pictures but does have the hook (quillion?) where does that place it in history? Ta.
There are other variations, but basically:
from 1886 till 1916: Nickel steel handle, hooked quillion, a bit over 25 inches long overall.
1916 - 1935: Same as above but without the quillion and with a brass handle. Many older bayonets had the quillions removed.
1935 through WWII: same as above, but shortened to 18 inches. Many older bayonets were also shortened.
Also after 1935, some bayonets were made with blued steel handles.
Bayonets that had tips broken off were often re-sharpened, so that some bayonets are neither the long or the short length.
I just wanted to thank you for sharing this valuable knowledge. I had been researching this Bayonet for days. and you summed up all that I found and added to my knowledge in a simple easy to read 1 page. next time I know where to look for answers. God Bless you
Thanks for your kind words!
Chris
Thanks, I have a Rosilie. Wondered about it and stubbled upon this. Thx Mine has the Nickle handle which i was wondering about till now. Thx for the clarification