[dragoon500ly]

I'm a big fan of military weapons. My grand-dad collected Winchesters, dad was a fan of anything produced by Colt, me, as long as it was an issue weapon, I'm a collector, my wife keeps promising to buy a steel storage shed and move me and my guns out there. But I degress...

World War One saw a wide selection of weapons used by the Doughboys and Devil Dogs:

The Springfield rifle used the M1905 Bayonet in both bright finish (most common) and parkerized (late 1918) finish. This was a typical knife bayont that measured 20-inches overall, with a 16-inch blade (single-edged with a 4-inch "false-edge" coming to a point). Issued with a wooden scabbard, first covered in rawhide and then with a canvas covering stitched in place over the rawhide and with a cartridge belt hook so that it could be clipped under the cartridge belt.

The US Enfield rifle used the M1917 bayonet and this was the most commonly issue bayonet. It was issued in the "two-toned" finish; the guard, hilt and ricasso were blued and the blade had a grayish phosphate finish. It measured 21.8-inches in length and had a 17-inch blade. This was a single-edge blade that came to a sharper point than the M1905. Two styles of scabbard were issued, both were of wood covered with green leather and differed only in the method of securing the scabbard to the cartridge belt. Both the M1917 and the M1905 could be used on either Springfield or Enfield. The M1917 was also issued for use with trench guns.

The Krag M1892 bayonet was obsolete, but was used for training in the states as well as issued to Naval landing parties. It was 16 1/4-inches long with a 11 3/4-inch blade (the M1905 copied the style of the blade). It was available only in bright finish and was issued with an all metal scabbard that had a long metal hook that suspended it from the Mills Krag cartridge belt.

The Canadian Ross Mark I bayonet was purchased from Canada and were used for training in the states. The bayonet had a bright finish and was 14 3/4-inches long with a 10 1/8-inch long "butcher blade" style blade. It was issued with a brown leather scabbard with a reinforced throat and a long belt loop.

The M1891 Mosin-Nagant bayonet was, at best, an anachronistic weapon. This was an all metal socket bayonet (not much different from those issued in the 1700s!) with a cruicform blade that was 17-inches long. The tip of the bayonet had a chisel point and could be used as a screwdriver to open ammunition crates. The bayonet was blued and was not issued with a scabbard as it was intended to be fixed to the Mosin-Nagant rifle at all times. The bayonet (and its rifle) saw service with US troops in North Russia were it saw combat.

The French M1886 Berthier and Lebel bayonets. This was a unique, quatrefoil blade, spike-type bayonet. The hilts were brass or aluminum. The bayonet was 25.5-inches long and had a unique hooked quillon. These were often referred to as "knitting needles", French soldiers also referred to the bayonet as "Rosalie" it was issued with a leather scabbard. It was used for training by AEF units in France and was used in action by the 360th, 361st, 362nd, 363rd, 364th, 365th, 366th, 367th, 368th, 369th, 370th, 371st and 372 Infantry Regiments (Colored). These units were detached to service with the French were they earned a reputation for their fighting capability.

The British M1907 Mark I bayonet was issued along with the SMLE rifle to those AEF units serving with the British. It was very similar in design to the US M1917 bayonet, including the same 18-inch sword type blade and a virtually identical hilt. It was issued with a leather scabbard with a brass throat and attached to the cartridge belt by a canvas hanger.