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Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 12, 2012 at 6:01

Billy,

I'm guessing you may already kniw this but what the heck, I'll say it any way:

Originally the Glider infantry didn't get the Hazardous Duty  or so-called Jump pay, because  some bureaucrat  compared arriving in a glider about the same as being trucked in.  On top of that Glider troops didn't need to go to jump school.  I'm not sure exactly when the philosophy changed but it was after they realized that Glider troops were taking about same if not higher casualties than troops who were jumping from planes.

A good chunk of jump qualified parachute types were not happy when the Glider troops got the hazardous duty pay.  Apparently they also felt the glider troops were coming via Taxi.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on January 11, 2012 at 23:55

Thanks Billy!

Another side note; my helmet is an authentic WWII M1 helmet reconditioned and in the markings of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment - "Bastogne Bulldogs" - of the 101st Airborne Division. A unit that always seems to gets overshadowed in the movies and books by the Parachute Infantry Regiment guys.

Comment by Billy Oneale on January 11, 2012 at 21:45

Nice bayonet, Craig. Great picture.

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on January 11, 2012 at 18:09

Thanks Toby.

I guess I should have mentioned, for a little tie-in with knife companies, that it was made by Utica Cutlery, and was shortened by Union Fork and Hoe Company.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 11, 2012 at 17:57

Thanks Craig,   That's a great photo.  One thing I learned while  working on my pages for theBritish Long Range Desert Group was American Ordinance, once approved was often in the front lines within weeks.  Things were literally being put on ships and planes before the paint dried.  It may not have shown up in every theater of operation or within every unit. but it was making it to the front and in battle often with the same month manufacturing began.   On the other hand, some items never saw action in certain areas of operation or with certain units.

Also, even in WWI, soldiers in all Armies risked court martial by shortening the unwieldy sword bayonets simply because they learned quickly all that extra steel might look cool  and nasty but ruined your ability to sight your rifle and was actually a hindrance in a bayonet fight, especially in the trenches.

Comment by Jan Carter on January 11, 2012 at 17:19

Craig,

Not only a great Bayonet but some good info too.  Thanks

Featured Comment by Craig Henry on January 11, 2012 at 17:13

Here's the only bayonet that I have left. I used to have a large collection of them.

Original date of bayonet is 1942 - 15" shortened to 10"

The army made no attempt to differentiate between the M1 bayonet and the shortened M1905.

Some collectors feel that the shortened bayonet did not enter service until too late to see much active combat in WW2, but the M1905E1 entered Ordnance channels in September 1943 and by the end of 1943 over 225,000 had entered the supply system, so the shortened type is certainly appropriate for any 1944 or later rifle.

Comment by Jan Carter on January 10, 2012 at 18:16

Billy,

That is realy cool

Comment by Billy Oneale on January 9, 2012 at 22:57

Thanks for the info, Toby. great looking pics of your bayonets. Here is the only one I own. I believe it is Romanian.

Comment by Tobias Gibson on January 9, 2012 at 19:05

More Bayonets.  The top one is my Spanish Mauser Bayonet  for the M1893 Mauser Rifle used by the Spanish Army during the Spanish American War and on through the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. It probably was also pressed into service by Axis forces.  Many of them came to America after the Spanish Civil War as well as during and post WWII.

The Bottom is my US M7 Bayonet used with the  M16 rifle and its variants until recent years.

Top: M1893 Bayonet made by Artilleria Fa. Nacional de Toledo (National Armaments Factory in Toledo, Spain) 

Overall length: 21 inches, 

Blade length: 15.5 inches.  

Smooth wood handle (repaired) 

Leather Scabbard with with metal throat and tip. 

Un matched serial numbers

Bottom:  M7 Bayonet made by BOC , NSN: 1095-00-073-9238.

Overall length:  11 3/8 inches

Blade length:  6 7/8 inches

Checkered Composition grip (held on by screws)

Scabbard:  M8a1 made of fiberglass w/steel throat riveted to  webbing with belt loop and M1910 belt hooks.

The M7  is the great, great, great grand child of the M4 bayonet which was the ugly cousin of the M3 trench knife.  It was replaced by the M9 Bayonet.

The M8a1 scabbard dated to WWII and  fit the M3 knife and  M4 bayonet however post 1953 markings for the M8a1 scabbard differ from WWII issued M8 a1 scabbards.

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