Extract from ''The Fifth Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment'' by Capt JS McMath regarding the fighting in Maltot. British blood was up and the Wiltshiremen went in with the bayonet The whole area became filled with a series of individual fights but the Germans were inferior at bayonet fighting . Let Private Long who was there describe what happened: ''They would come rushing at you like wild bulls , with bayonets raised abouve their heads; all we had to do was wait for them, parry their bayonet to one side , up with our buttt to smash their jaws and then , as they fell just stick 'em'' Have read similar comments before & also from WW1. Nasty business bayonet fighting.
Sounds like a bad german standard training. And the brits parry with jiujitsu technique. Wehrmacht rewriting books of Panzers and Rockets but neglecting the bajonet techniques.
few colour pics of bayonet training from IWM. IWM (TR 1595) Private T Henderson with fixed bayonet, practises assault. THE BRITISH ARMY IN TRAINING IN BRITAIN, 1944. © IWM (TR 1595)IWM Non Commercial Licence IWM (TR 1596) Private A Campin with fixed bayonet, practises assault. THE BRITISH ARMY IN TRAINING IN BRITAIN, 1944. © IWM (TR 1596)IWM Non Commercial Licence
Dad always said to me that the Germans never ever successfully defended a bayonet charge that he was involved in. From early 1942 in the Desert, Sicily and NWE to Germany.!!!!
I have found an Alfred Campin 6 DLI killed in action 16/6/44 http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2955738/CAMPIN,%20ALFRED
How many Bayonet charges were successfully defended in WW2, by all sides? I think by the time that the order to 'fix bayonets' comes, and your guys actually make it into the position of the enemy, one of the reasons why you make it in is that the other side isn't really willing to play anymore. If they were, your bayonet charge would end like this: http://www.blackwatch.50megs.com/tobruk.html All the best Andreas
What about when you have run out of ammunition during an attack and have to finish off your opponents with trenching tools?
How many Bayonet charges were successfully defended in WW2, by all sides? I think by the time that the order to 'fix bayonets' comes, and your guys actually make it into the position of the enemy, one of the reasons why you make it in is that the other side isn't really willing to play anymore. If they were, your bayonet charge would end like this: http://www.blackwatch.50megs.com/tobruk.html Apparently some nasty stuff with that link Andreas. My anti-virus flashed several warnings. All the best Andreas
HI Canuck Thanks for the warning. I have quite a bit of AV stuff going on mine, never got a warning. All the best Andreas
Some images from Soviet bayonet training manuals here: http://www.thortrains.com/getright/drillbay1.html CS
There is a well known crucial psychological moment after the instigation of a charge to hand to hand combat. Rather than always ending in combat, usually one side or the other breaks - attackers go to ground or resistance stops. Analysis of the American Civil War showed 'after action' accounts emphasised the importance of bayonet charges and their success or failure on the result of a battle however the US Surgeon General's extensive (and well worth a look) report on battlefield casualties showed actual bayonet wounds negligable. After the Boer War, British training featured exaggerated aggressive use of the bayonet to get over that moment - the problem was when 'that moment' occurs when faced with modern smokeless powders and bolt action/automatic weapons - the moment when a part-time Boer Commando would decide to get on his pony and clear off was unfortunately not reflected by German Machine Gunners behind wire. Also keep in mind that the 18" bayonet was intended to get into the chest cavity of a man on a horse! Cheers Keith
I remember ready a article about the fighting in Iraq. I'm 99% sure the unit was 'Para' but could have been PWRR, a section was running low on ammo (not uncommon, I went over the border with 90 rounds ie 3 mags) in a fire fight, apparently left with little choice the full screw (corporal) shouted 'Fix bayonets' to which he got the reply from one of his opo's 'F*** this for a game of soldiers'. The charge went in, most of the enemy did a runner and the full screw got a gong. When I read the article I really related to the Opo's reply as I had said that a few times myself but never in a up close and personal scenario. On a WW2 note when a bayonet charge is mentioned I think of the Glosters at Ledringham clearing out the Germans in a counter-attack shouting 'Up the Glosters' as they went.
Paras, shmaras. This says it was the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders: http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?14911-Scottish-Bayonet-Charge-in-Iraq And that the Scots Guards had executed a bayonet charge in the Falklands, too. And here's the 1st Princess of Wales doing it in Afghanistan. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9571522/Soldier-who-led-Afghanistan-bayonet-charge-into-hail-of-bullets-honoured.html Seems that there is an unhealthy predilection amongst British soldiers for the bayonet. I wonder what Freud would have to say... All the best Andreas
