The bayonet is still included on all modern assault rifles. When US and British Special Forces fought in the battle for Tora Bora in 2001 bayonets came in handy. Their effectiveness was again demonstrated when Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders bayonet charged a position held by the Mahdi Army in Iraq 2004. (USMC)
Once this had caught on it seemed a good idea to make the spear as long as possible so bayonets became fairly lengthy. There was even a type called the sword bayonet which could be used like a sword when detached. As it is much preferable to stab someone from a distance where they cannot reach you a sort of arms race developed where bayonets became longer and longer. The only limit was the convenience of carrying and fitting them.
The idea of a bayonet being rammed into your belly is pretty unpleasant and one of the main benefits of the weapon. To improve the fear factor some armies developed bayonets with serrated edges likes saws which look truly awful. Some retained knife-like weapons as these could be used for other purposes – like opening cans of beans – while yet others made the bayonets round or triangular in section for strength and ease of manufacture.
Operation: How does it work?
The idea of a bayonet is that a knife on the end of a rifle turns it into a spear – which is better than a club because you can kill someone from a little further away. If you push a bayonet into someone it will quickly take the fight out of them, which is a good thing. Early bayonets were ‘plug’ bayonets which means they fitted into the end of the barrel and stopped the rifle being used again. This has obvious disadvantages so bayonet fitting was developed where a bayonet is clipped parallel to the end of the muzzle and remains there while the weapon is fired.
Something a lot of people don’t know is that when a modern rifle is fired the barrel flexes. It whips as a shock wave travels along it. Only a tiny amount but enough to affect the flight of the bullet as it leaves the muzzle. The length of all rifle barrels is tuned so that the barrel is in a suitable stage of its wave cycle as the bullet leaves it. When a bayonet is attached to a rifle it affects this wave action and can result in a significant effect on the direction of the bullet. I was told as a young man that a bayonet fitted to a World War II Lee Enfield .303 made it shoot 10in low at 100 yards. On a modern rifle, even if the effect is not so pronounced on the barrel flex, the weight of the bayonet will certainly affect your aiming. My point is that you only fix bayonets when you are about to use them or you are so close to the enemy that accuracy is not an issue.
TOP TIP!
Using your bayonet effectively
There is one little trick which might come in useful. You will understand that ‘reach’ is very important in being able to stab someone before they stab you? If you hold your rifle at the ‘on guard’ position with a sling fitted then it is possible to move your rear handgrip from the narrowing of the stock to where the sling attaches at the rear of the stock. You can then, at the right moment, release your front hand and push the rifle out in front of you with the rear hand. This extends the reach of your bayonet by around 3 feet and could make all the difference in a tricky situation.
Skill: How do you use the weapon to maximum efficiency?
Close with the enemy at the run while screaming. I think that ought to just about do it. The idea is that this has the effect of making the enemy run or freeze in fear. In the old days, just dying out as I was trained, soldiers were taught bayonet fencing which, as the name suggests, is where two men face off with bayonets fixed and try to stab each other. With automatic weapons this is not going to happen as you would both have to be jammed or out of ammo with no pistols, grenades or mates around – an unlikely occurrence.
Types of bayonets
Each rifle in production has its own bayonet designed for it so there are simply thousands of differing lengths and styles. The main types are the spike, which is a round or triangular section spike, the knife, which is effectively a knife with a bayonet fitting and the sword, which is a very long knife. As a general rule, modern bayonets are shorter than those in use during or before World War II. The Kalashnikov range actually has one model which has a bayonet attached all the time. You just swing it forward and it locks in position. It also forms a wire cutter – which is pretty clever.
Summary: What are the important things to remember about bayonets?
The chances are that you will never use a bayonet in anger. But, so you don’t dismiss the bayonet out of hand, let me tell you a little story to close this section. In Iraq, 2004, there were a couple of soft-skinned vehicles carrying British soldiers through Basra. The Shiite Militia enemy there were told by their leaders that the British were cowards and would not stand and fight so the Militia set up an ambush. Actually the British rules of engagement forbid shooting except in special circumstances at that stage of the conflict and British soldiers always follow orders. There were about 100 insurgents in the ambush and they believed that they would be able to shoot at least a few British soldiers and the convoy would continue driving – effectively running away. There is wrong and there is wrong.
The men in this little convoy were Scottish soldiers: the famous Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Twenty of them – which is more Scotsmen than you ever want to fight. At the battle of Balaklava in 1856 the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders’ colonel, Colin Campbell, had to hold them back from breaking formation to rush in and bayonet the Russian cavalry they had just fought to a standstill with the very British cry ‘93rd, 93rd, Damn all that eagerness!’ Back to Basra: finding themselves under enemy fire the Jocks stopped their vehicles and disembarked to form a defensive perimeter while calling for reinforcements on the radio. As these were going to take a while to arrive, and the Jocks have little patience, their officer gave the order to fix bayonets and 20 Jocks charged the remaining 85 enemy across 600 feet of open ground to bayonet 20 of the enemy on contact beside the 15 they had already shot. There would have been more enemy killed had they been able to catch them. Seems the Jocks haven’t changed much since Balaklava.
HAND GRENADES
You will have seen ‘atomic’ hand grenades in the movies – the grenade goes off and bodies and vehicles go flying everywhere in sheets of flame. The reality, as so often the case, is a little less impressive but a grenade is probably your best weapon after your rifle so listen up. There are three main types of hand grenade you should know about and they have slightly different uses so get the info below into your head...
Goal: When is the right time to employ this weapon? What can it do?
All hand-thrown grenades consist of a charge surrounded by a layer of something which turns into shrapnel, gas, flash or smoke when the charge goes off. They all have a pin which retains a lever which, when released, sets off a fuse of some 4.5 seconds to delay the detonation until you have thrown the grenade. The main types of grenade you are going to come across are these:
Russian fragmentation grenades clipped to belt of Afghan fighter in 1992. (Corbis)
