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{{Short description |Pointed weapon attached to the end of a firearm}}
{{redirect|Bayonet attack|the chess opening|Caro–Kann Defence|other uses|Bayonet (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
[[File:The British Army in Britain, 1941 H10633.jpg|thumb| British infantryman in 1941 with a [[Pattern 1907 bayonet]] affixed to his [[Lee–Enfield]] rifle]]
A '''bayonet''' (from [[Old French]] {{lang|fr|bayonette}}, now spelt {{lang|fr|baïonnette}}) is a [[knife]], [[dagger]], [[sword]], or [[Spike bayonet|spike-shaped]] melee weapon designed to be mounted on the end of the [[gun barrel|barrel]] of a [[rifle]], [[carbine]], [[musket]] or similar [[long gun|long firearm]], allowing the gun to be used as an improvised [[spear]] in [[close combat]].<ref name="BRA">Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustrated History'', Iola, WI: Krause Publications, {{ISBN|978-0-87349-870-8}} (2004), pp. 9–10, 83–85.</ref>

The term is derived from the town of [[Bayonne]] in southwestern [[France]], where bayonets were supposedly first used by [[Basques]] in the 17th century.<ref>John Ayto, ''Dictionary of Word Origins'', 1990</ref> From the early 17th to the early 20th century, it was an [[infantry]] melee weapon used for both [[offensive (military)|offensive]] and [[Defense (military)|defensive]] [[military tactics|tactics]], usually when [[charge (warfare)|charging]] in [[tactical formation|mass formation]]s ([[human wave attack]]s). In contemporary times, bayonets are considered a weapon of last resort, and are rarely used in combat, although they are still used for ceremonial purposes (e.g, [[military parade]]s).

==History==
[[File:子母鳥銃.png|thumb|Depiction of a Chinese muzzle-loading musket with a plug bayonet attached from 1606. The weapon's instructional manual and specifications is shown above.]]
The term ''bayonette'' itself dates back to the 16th century, but it is not clear whether bayonets at the time were knives that could be fitted to the ends of firearms, or simply a type of knife. 

For example, Cotgrave's 1611 ''Dictionarie'' describes the bayonet as "a kind of small flat pocket dagger, furnished with knives; or a great knife to hang at the girdle". 

Likewise, [[Pierre Borel]] wrote in 1655 that a kind of long-knife called a ''bayonette'' was made in [[Bayonne]] but does not give any further description.<ref>H. Blackmore, ''Hunting Weapons'', p. 50</ref> 

There are some accounts that place the invention of the bayonet in either France or Germany as early as 1570.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.germanmilitaria.com/Heer/photos/H112062.html | title=The Collector's Guild | access-date=1 May 2023 | archive-date=1 May 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501155736/https://www.germanmilitaria.com/Heer/photos/H112062.html | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Plug bayonets===
[[File:02 158 Book illustrations of Historical description of the clothes and weapons of Russian troops.jpg|thumb|Depiction of an early 18th-century [[Tsardom of Russia|Russian]] infantryman installing a plug bayonet.]]

The first recorded instance of a bayonet proper is found in the Chinese military treatise, {{ill|Binglu|zh|兵录}} published in 1606. It was in the form of the {{ill|Son-and-mother gun|zh|子母鳥銃}}, a [[breech-loading weapon|breech-loading]] musket that was issued with a roughly {{convert|57.6|cm|adj=on|abbr=on}} long plug bayonet, giving it an overall length of {{convert|1.92|m|abbr=on}} with the bayonet attached. It was labelled as a "gun-blade" ({{zh|t=銃刀|s=铳刀|p=Chòngdāo}}) with it being described as a "short sword that can be inserted into the barrel and secured by twisting it slightly" that it is to be used "when the battle have depleted both gunpowder and bullets as well as fighting against bandits, when forces are closing into melee or encountering an ambush" and if one "cannot load the gun within the time it takes to cover two bu (3.2 meters) of ground they are to attach the bayonet and hold it like a spear".<ref name="needham volume 5 part 7 456">Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 456.</ref><ref name="Binglu 《兵錄》, Scroll 12">Binglu 《兵錄》, Scroll 12.</ref>

Early bayonets were of the "plug" type, where the bayonet was fitted directly into the barrel of the musket.<ref name="johnfixbayonets" /><ref name="COLD" /><ref name="militaryhistory" /> This allowed light infantry to be converted to heavy infantry and hold off cavalry charges. 

The bayonet had a round handle that slid directly into the musket barrel. This naturally prevented the gun from being fired. 

The first known mention of the use of bayonets in European warfare was in the memoirs of Jacques de Chastenet, Vicomte de Puységur.<ref name="worldbayonets.com1" /> He described the French using crude {{convert|1|ft|adj=on}} plug bayonets during the [[Thirty Years' War]] .<ref name="worldbayonets.com1" /> 

However, it was not until 1671 that General [[Jean Martinet]] standardized and issued plug bayonets to the French regiment of [[fusilier]]s then raised. They were issued to part of an English [[dragoon]] regiment raised in 1672, and to the Royal Fusiliers when raised in 1685.<ref name="EB1911" />

===Socket bayonets===
[[File:Musee-historique-lausanne-img 0095.jpg|thumb|left|Socket of a bayonet, showing triangular cross-section and fluted sides]]

The major problem with plug bayonets was that when attached they made it impossible to fire the musket, requiring soldiers to wait until the last possible moment before a [[melee]] to fix the bayonet. 

The defeat of forces loyal to [[William III of England|William of Orange]] by [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] Highlanders at the [[Battle of Killiecrankie]] in 1689 was due (among other things) to the use of the plug bayonet.<ref name="COLD" /><ref name="EB1911" /> 

The Highlanders closed to {{cvt|50|yd|m}}, fired a single volley, dropped their muskets, and using axes and swords quickly overwhelmed the loyalists before they had time to fix bayonets. Shortly thereafter, the defeated leader, [[Hugh Mackay (general)|Hugh Mackay]], is believed to have introduced a socket bayonet of his own invention. 

Soon "socket" bayonets would incorporate both socket mounts and an offset blade that fit around the musket's barrel, which allowed the musket to be fired and reloaded while the bayonet was attached.

[[File:Bayonette-p1000740.jpg|thumb|Early 19th-century offset spiked socket bayonet]]

An unsuccessful trial with socket or zigzag bayonets was made after the [[battle of Fleurus (1690)|Battle of Fleurus]] in 1690, in the presence of [[King Louis XIV]], who refused to adopt them, as they had a tendency to fall off the musket. 

Shortly after the [[Peace of Ryswick]] (1697), the English and Germans abolished the [[pike (weapon)|pike]] and introduced socket bayonets.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|wstitle=Bayonet|inline=1}}</ref> 

The British socket bayonet had a spike with a triangular cross-section rather than a flat blade, with a flat side towards the muzzle and two fluted sides outermost to a length of {{convert|15|in|cm}}. It had no lock to keep it fast to the muzzle, and was well-documented for falling off in the heat of battle.<ref name="COLD" />

By the mid-18th century, socket bayonets had been adopted by most European armies. In 1703, the French infantry adopted a spring-loaded locking system that prevented the bayonet from accidentally separating from the musket. 

A triangular blade was introduced around 1715 and was stronger than the previous single or double-edged model.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://blademag.com/knife-history/bayonets-an-iconic-historic-blade |title= Bayonets: an iconic historic blade|website= blademag.com|date= 11 February 2023}}</ref>

===Sword bayonets===
{{Main|Sword bayonet}}
The 18th century introduced the concept of the [[sword bayonet]], a long-bladed weapon with a single- or double-edged blade that could also be used as a [[Classification of swords|shortsword]]. 

Its initial purpose was to ensure that riflemen could form an [[infantry square]] properly to fend off cavalry attacks when in ranks with musketmen, whose weapons were longer. A prime early example of a sword bayonet-fitted rifle is the Pattern 1800 Infantry Rifle, later known as the "[[Baker Rifle]]". 

Sword bayonets were used by German Jagers in the 18th century. The hilt usually had [[quillons]] modified to accommodate the [[gun barrel]] and a [[hilt]] mechanism that enabled the bayonet to be attached to a [[bayonet lug]].

A sword bayonet could be used in combat as a [[Sidearm (weapon)|sidearm]], when detached from the musket or rifle. When the bayonet was attached to the musket or rifle, it effectively turned all  [[long gun]]s into a [[spear]] or [[glaive]], which made it suitable for both thrusting and cutting attacks.

[[File:Chassepot-diag.jpg|thumb|Chassepot bolt-action rifle and sword bayonet.]]

While the British Army eventually discarded the sword bayonet, the socket bayonet survived the introduction of the rifled musket into British service in 1854. The new rifled musket copied the French locking ring system.<ref name="COLD"/> 

The new bayonet proved its worth at the [[Battle of Alma]] and the [[Battle of Inkerman]] during the [[Crimean War]], where the Imperial Russian Army learned to fear it.<ref name="COLD" />

[[File:Chassepot bayonet assembly.jpg|thumb|left|Bayonet assembly system of the [[Chassepot]]]]

In the 1860s, European nations began to develop new [[bolt-action]] [[breech-loading weapon|breechloading]] [[rifle]]s (such as the [[Chassepot]] and [[Snider–Enfield]]) and sword bayonets suitable for mass production and used by police, pioneer, and engineer troops.<ref name="OWE">Owen, John Ivor Headon, ''Brassey's Infantry Weapons of the World: Infantry Weapons and Combat Aids in Current Use by the Regular and Reserve Forces of All Nations'', Bonanza Press,  {{ISBN|978-0-517-24234-6}} (1975), p. 265</ref> 

The decision to redesign the bayonet into a short sword was viewed by some as an acknowledgement of the decline in importance of the fixed bayonet as a weapon in the face of new advances in firearms technology.<ref name="PUN" /> British magazine [[Punch (magazine)|Punch]] wrote that "the committee, in recommending this new sword bayonet, appear to have had in view the fact that bayonets will henceforth be less frequently used than in former times as a weapon of offence and defence; they desired, therefore, to substitute an instrument of more general utility."<ref name="PUN" />

===Multipurpose bayonets===
[[File:Bayonet, sawback (AM 1983.150-5).jpg|thumb|British Pattern 1875 Snider saw-backed bayonet (with scabbard) for the artillery carbine]]

One of these multipurpose designs was the 'sawback' bayonet, which incorporated saw teeth on the spine of the blade.<ref name="OWE"/> 

The sawback bayonet was intended for use as a general-purpose utility tool as well as a weapon; the teeth were meant to facilitate the cutting of wood for various defensive works such as barbed-wire posts, as well as for butchering livestock.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="PUN" /><ref name="KNI">Knight, Edward H., ''Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary'' (Vol. 1), New York: J. B. Ford & Co. (1874), p. 252</ref><ref name="RHO">Rhodes, Bill, ''An Introduction to Military Ethics: A Reference Handbook'', ABC CLIO LLC, {{ISBN|978-0-313-35046-7}} (2009), pp. 13–14</ref>

It was initially adopted by the German states in 1865; until the middle of WWI approximately 5% of every bayonet style was complemented with a sawback version, for example in Belgium in 1868, Great Britain in 1869 and Switzerland in 1878 (Switzerland introduced their last model in 1914).<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="PUN" /><ref name="KNI" /><ref name="RHO" /><ref>Foulkes, Charles J., and Hopkinson, Edward C., ''Sword, Lance & Bayonet: A Record of the Arms of the British Army & Navy'' (2nd ed.), Edgware, Middlesex: Arms & Armour Press (1967) p. 113</ref> 

The original sawback bayonets were typically of the heavy sword-type, they were issued to engineers, with to some extent the bayonet aspect being secondary to the "tool" aspect.

Later German sawbacks were more of a rank indicator than a functional saw. Generally, an average of 6% of all bayonets were sawbacks for non-commissioned officers. There were some exceptions, such as the kurzes Seitengewehr 1898 model, all of which were of the sawback design and meant for what was considered more prestigious units, such as machine gunners, telegraph troop and colonial troops.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Anthony |title=German Bayonets |publisher=Tharston Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0946696086 |volume=2 |location=Norfolk, England |pages=55, 131}}</ref> 

The sawback proved relatively ineffective as a cutting tool, and was soon outmoded by improvements in military logistics and transportation; most nations dropped the sawback feature by the early 20th century.<ref name="BRA" /> 

The German army discontinued use of the sawback bayonet in 1917 after protests that the serrated blade caused unnecessarily severe wounds when used as a fixed bayonet.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="RHO" />

[[File:U.S. BAYONET MODEL 1873 TROWEL.jpg|thumb|U.S. Bayonet Model 1873 [[trowel]] bayonet]]

The ''trowel'' or ''spade'' bayonet was another multipurpose design, intended for use both as an offensive weapon as well as a [[entrenching tool|digging tool]] for excavating entrenchments.<ref name="RIP">Ripley, George, and Dana, Charles A., ''The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge'' (Vol. II), New York: D. Appleton & Co. (1873), p. 409</ref><ref name="BOA">Board of Officers Assembled at St. Louis, Missouri, Schofield, J.M. (Maj. Gen.) President, ''Bayonets: Resume of the Proceedings of the Board, June 10, 1870'', Ordnance Memoranda, Issue 11, United States Army Ordnance Dept., Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1870), p. 16</ref> 

In 1870, the US Army issued trowel bayonets to infantry regiments based on a design by Lieutenant-Colonel [[Edmund Rice (general)|Edmund Rice]], a US Army officer and Civil War veteran, which were manufactured by the Springfield Armory.<ref name="BEL">Belknap, William W., ''Trowel-Bayonet, Letter from the Secretary of War In Answer to a Resolution of the House of April 4, 1872'', The Executive Documents of the House of Representatives, 42nd Congress, 2nd Session (1871–1872), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1872), pp. 1–20</ref> 

Besides its utility as both a fixed bayonet and a digging implement, the Rice trowel bayonet could be used to plaster log huts and stone chimneys for winter quarters; sharpened on one edge, it could cut tent poles and pins.<ref name="BEL" /> Ten thousand were eventually issued, and the design saw service during the [[Nez Perce War|1877 Nez Perce campaign]].<ref name="MCC">McChristian, Douglas C., ''Uniforms, Arms, and Equipment: Weapons and Accouterments'', University of Oklahoma Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8061-3790-2}} (2007), pp. 128–142</ref> Rice was given leave in 1877 to demonstrate his trowel bayonet to several nations in Europe.<ref name="MCC" /> 

One infantry officer recommended it to the exclusion of all other designs, noting that "the entrenching {{sic}} tools of an army rarely get up to the front until the exigency for their use has passed."<ref name="BEL" /> The Rice trowel bayonet was declared obsolete by the US Army in December 1881.<ref name="MCC" />

=== Contemporary bayonets ===
Today, the bayonet is rarely used in one-to-one combat.<ref name="sadefensejournal.com" /><ref>{{cite book|title=Knives of War: An International Guide to Military Knives from World War I to the Present|first1=Gordon|last1=Hughes|first2=Barry|last2=Jenkins|first3= Robert A.|last3=Buerlein|publisher=Paladin Press| year= 2006|pages=101–110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfBslF4gUVwC&q=unarmed+combat|pages=175–179|title=The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Combat|isbn=9780312264369|publisher=St Martin's Press|last1=Shillingford|first1=Ron|year=2001}}</ref> 

Despite its limitations, many modern [[assault rifle]]s (including [[bullpup]] designs) retain a bayonet lug and the bayonet is issued by many armies. The bayonet is used for controlling prisoners, or as a weapon of last resort.<ref name="sadefensejournal.com" />

In addition, some authorities have concluded that the bayonet serves as a useful training aid in building [[morale]] and increasing desired aggressiveness in troops.<ref name="FM 3-25.150">{{cite book |title=FM 3 25.150 COMBATIVES ( HAND TO HAND COMBAT) |date=18 January 2002 |url=https://archive.org/details/fm-3-25.150-combatives-hand-to-hand-combat/mode/2up |access-date=18 September 2023 |publisher=Headquarters Department of the Army |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/documents/vol_02/iss_1/CAJ_vol2.1_07_e.pdf |access-date=2012-10-23 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523124550/http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/caj/documents/vol_02/iss_1/CAJ_vol2.1_07_e.pdf |archive-date=23 May 2013 |df=dmy| title=The Psychology of the Bayonet|author=Major William Beaudoin, CD}}</ref>

Today's bayonets often double as multi-purpose [[Utility knife|utility knives]], bottle openers or other tools. Issuing one modern multi-purpose bayonet/knife is also more cost effective than issuing separate speciality bayonets, and field or combat knives.

===Photo gallery===
<gallery widths="160" heights="140">
File:Défilé de la Légion à Orange pour ses 40 ans de garnison.jpg|[[French Foreign Legion|Legionnaires]] of the [[French Armed Forces|French Military]] with [[FAMAS]] rifles and fixed bayonets.
File:01 ak47.jpg|[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[AK-47]] bayonet and scabbard.
File:03 akm.jpg|[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[AKM]] type II bayonet, multi-purpose knife and wire-cutter when combined with its scabbard.
File:NVA AKM Bayonet (2 of 2).JPG|Multi-purpose [[AKM]] Type I bayonet of the [[Nationale Volksarmee]] shown cutting a wire
File:6kh4 wire cutter.jpg|[[Red Army|Soviet]] [[AKM]] type II bayonet and scabbard in wire-cutter configuration.
File:Afghan policeman bayonet.jpg|[[Afghan National Police|Afghan policeman]] with [[AKM]] and AKM Type II bayonet.
File:US-Military-M5-Bayonet1.jpg|The US [[M5 bayonet]] and scabbard used with the [[M1 Garand]]
File:M6 Bayonet.jpg|The US [[M6 bayonet]] and scabbard used with the [[M14 rifle]]
File:M7 Bayonet & M8A1 Sheath MOD.jpg|[[M7 Bayonet]] and M8A1 Sheath used with the [[M16 rifle]]
File:M9bayonet2.jpg|Adopted in 1986, the US [[M9 bayonet]] and scabbard used with the [[M16 rifle]] and [[M4 carbine]].
File:US-Military-M9-Bayonet-used-as-Wirecutter.jpg|[[M9 bayonet]] and scabbard in wire-cutter configuration.
File:USMC-110515-M-JG138-043.jpg|M9 bayonet-fitted [[M4 carbine]] firing during secondary target drills.
File:Bayonet OKC-3S - Ontario Knife Company.jpg|The [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]] [[OKC-3S Bayonet]]
File:Combat knife attached to gun.jpg|[[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] at bayonet practice in 2005.
File:4th MARDIV Rifle Squad Competition- Day 3 230130-M-SU940-1631.jpg|US Marine with OKC-3S attached to an [[M27 IAR]] in 2023. The USMC is one of only a few modern military forces to still teach bayonet fighting as part of basic training.
File:SKS bayonet noBG.jpg|Folding an [[SKS]]-type bayonet.
File:People's Liberation Army Navy sailor with type 56 assault rifle.jpeg|A [[People's Liberation Army Navy|Chinese sailor]] with a [[Type 56 assault rifle|Type 56]] with the integral folding spike bayonet, 1986.
File:Honor guard of the People's Liberation Army.jpg|[[People's Liberation Army|Chinese soldier]] with [[QBZ-95]] rifle and multi-purpose knife bayonet.
File:Indian Army soldier on guard at the India Gate, New Delhi.jpg|[[Indian Army]] [[Gurkha]] with [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle|L1A1]] ([[FN FAL]]) and traditional bayonet.
File:Present Arms fixing bayonet.JPG|[[Japanese Ground Self Defense Force]] infantrymen with their [[Howa Type 64]] with bayonet fixed.
File:Brazilian Army SOF.jpeg|[[Brazilian Army]] [[paratrooper]]s with [[FN FAL]] rifles with Type C socket bayonets on parade.
File:Early FN FAL.jpg|Early [[FN FAL]] and bayonet.
File:Kuwaiti soldier with his FN FAL rifle.jpg|[[Kuwait Army|Kuwaiti soldier]] with his [[FN FAL]] rifle with bayonet.
File:L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle MOD 45162213 (L3A1 crop).jpg|British-issue L3A1 socket bayonet. Note the slot in the blade to attach the wire-cutter scabbard.
File:L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle MOD 45162213 (L3A1 scabbard crop).jpg|L3A1 scabbard. Note the lug to attach the bayonet for wire cutting.
File:Sacrifice honoured at National Act of Remembrance MOD 45163258.jpg|British servicemen with fixed L3A1 bayonets on [[SA80|L85A2]] rifles. The L3A1's blade is offset to permit firing.
File:Palace guard at the royal palace, Oslo.jpg|Palace guard at the royal palace, Oslo. Note the G3-type rifle with a bayonet over the barrel.
File:Glock Feldmesser FM 78.JPG|[[Glock knife|Glock field knife/bayonet]] and its scabbard. The upper [[crossguard]] is bent forward and can be used as a bottle opener.
File:Defense.gov photo essay 120831-D-VO565-009.jpg|Irish Army Honor Guard. Note Steyr AUG with EICKHORN KCB-70 type multi-purpose bayonet
File:Navy members of the Royal Guard of Honour - Flickr - NZ Defence Force.jpg|Royal New Zealand Navy Guard of Honour. Note Individual Weapon Steyr with American M7 bayonets.
File:Changing the Guard ceremony in Québec during the summer 09.jpg|The [[Royal 22nd Regiment]] of [[Canada]] unfixing their bayonets.
File:Marines Rehearse for Presidential Inauguration 130117-M-YO938-821.jpg|[[United States Marines|Marines]] from [[Marine Barracks Washington D.C.]] fix their bayonets during rehearsals for the presidential inauguration.
File:LAPA FA Mod 3.svg|[[Brazil]]ian [[LAPA FA-03]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Olive|first=Ronaldo|date=12 September 2013|title=Morre o projetista Nelmo Suzano|url=https://www.planobrazil.com/2013/09/12/morre-o-projetista-nelmo-suzano/|url-status=live|access-date=11 July 2021|website=Plano Brazil|language=pt-BR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505234025/http://www.planobrazil.com/2013/09/12/morre-o-projetista-nelmo-suzano/|archive-date=5 May 2019}}</ref>
</gallery>

==Linguistic impact==
The push-twist motion of fastening the older type of [[spike bayonet]] has given a name to:
*The "[[bayonet mount]]" used for various types of quick fastenings, such as [[photographic lens|camera lenses]], also called a "bayonet connector" when used in electrical plugs.
*Several connectors and contacts including the bayonet-fitting [[light bulb]] that is common in the UK (as opposed to the continental European screw-fitting type).
*One type of connector for foil and sabre weapons used in modern fencing competitions is referred to as a "bayonet" connector.

In [[chess]], an aggressive variation of the [[King's Indian Defence]] is known as the "Bayonet Attack".

The bayonet has become a symbol of [[Great power|military power]]. The term "at the point of a bayonet" refers to using military force or action to accomplish, maintain, or defend something (cf. [[Bayonet Constitution]]). Undertaking a task "with fixed bayonets" has this connotation of no room for compromise and is a phrase used particularly in politics.

==Badges and insignias==
The [[Australian Army]] [[Rising Sun (badge)|'Rising Sun' badge]] features a semicircle of bayonets. The Australian Army Infantry Combat Badge (ICB) takes the form of a vertically mounted Australian Army SLR (7.62mm self-loading rifle FN FAL) bayonet surrounded by an oval-shaped laurel wreath.<ref>[[Infantry combat badge]]</ref>

The US Army [[Combat Action Badge]], awarded to personnel who have come under fire since 2001 and who are not eligible for the [[Combat Infantryman Badge]] (due to the fact that only Infantry personnel may be awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge), has a bayonet as its central motif. The shoulder sleeve insignia for the [[10th Mountain Division (United States)|10th Mountain Division]] in the US Army features crossed bayonets. The US Army's [[173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team]]'s shoulder patch features a bayonet wrapped in a wing, symbolizing their airborne status. The brigade regularly deploys in task forces under the name "Bayonet".

The insignia of the British Army's [[School of Infantry]] is an SA80 bayonet against a red shield. It is worn as a [[Tactical recognition flash]] (TRF) by instructors at the [[Infantry Training Centre (British Army)|Infantry Training Centre]] Catterick, the [[Infantry Battle School]] at [[Brecon]] and the Support Weapons School in [[Warminster]]. Fixed bayonets also feature on the [[cap badge]] and [[tactical recognition flash]] of the [[Small Arms School Corps]].

The vocation tab collar insignia for the [[Singapore Armed Forces]] Infantry Formation utilizes two crossed bayonets. The bayonet is often used as a symbol of the Infantry in Singapore.

==Bayonet charge==
{{redirect|Bayonet charge|the Ted Hughes poem|Bayonet Charge (poem)}}

The development of the bayonet from the 17th century onwards led to the bayonet [[charge (warfare)|charge]] becoming the main infantry tactic throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. The British Army under Wolesley, the later Duke of Wellington, evolved its tactics to adopt the "Volley and Bayonet Charge" from the earlier "Highland Charge" tactic of Highland regiments under his command. These proto "fire and maneuver" tactics were first introduced to the British Army by the 42nd Highlanders (Black Watch) at Fontenoy in 1745 although, they had been used by their antecedents, (The Independent Highland Watch Companies) prior to that. As early as the 19th century, military scholars were already noting that most bayonet charges did not result in [[close combat]]. Instead, one side usually fled before actual bayonet fighting ensued. The act of fixing bayonets has been held to be primarily connected to morale, the making of a clear signal to friend and foe of a willingness to kill at close quarters.<ref name="firingline" />

The bayonet charge was above all a tool of shock. While charges were reasonably common in 18th and 19th century warfare, actual combat between formations with their bayonets was so rare as to be effectively nonexistent. Usually, a charge would only happen after a long exchange of gunfire, and one side would break and run before contact was actually made. Sir Charles Oman, nearing the end of his history of the [[Peninsular War]] (1807–1814) in which he had closely studied hundreds of battles and combats, only discovered a single example of, in his words, "one of the rarest things in the Peninsular War, a real hand-to-hand fight with the white weapon." Infantry melees were much more common in close country – towns, villages, earthworks and other terrain which reduced visibility to such ranges that hand-to-hand fighting was unavoidable. These melees, however, were not bayonet charges per se, as they were not executed or defended against by regular bodies of orderly infantry; rather, they were a chaotic series of individual combats where musket butts and fists were used alongside bayonets, swords, and polearms.<ref>Rory Muir, "Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon," pp. 86–88.</ref>

===Napoleonic wars===
[[File:Großbeeren 1813.jpg|thumb|A bayonet charge during the [[Battle of Großbeeren]] (1813)]]

The bayonet charge was a common tactic used during the [[Napoleonic wars]]. Despite its effectiveness, a bayonet charge did not necessarily cause substantial casualties through the use of the weapon itself. Detailed battle casualty lists from the 18th century showed that in many battles, less than 2% of all wounds treated were caused by bayonets.<ref>Lynn, John A. Giant of the Grand Siècle: The French Army, 1610–1715. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997. Print.</ref> [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]], a celebrated military author who served in numerous armies during the [[Napoleon]]ic period, stated that the majority of bayonet charges in the open resulted with one side fleeing before any contact was made. Combat with bayonets did occur, but mostly on a small scale when units of opposing sides encountered each other in a confined environment, such as during the storming of fortifications or during ambush skirmishes in broken terrain.<ref>Jomini, Antoine Henri. The Art of War. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1971. Print.</ref> In an age of fire by [[Volley fire|massed volley]], when compared to random unseen bullets, the threat of the bayonet was much more tangible and immediate – guaranteed to lead to a personal gruesome conclusion if both sides persisted. All this encouraged men to flee before the lines met. Thus, the bayonet was an immensely useful weapon for capturing ground from the enemy, despite seldom actually being used to inflict wounds.

===American Civil War===
[[File:Currier-Ives Third Petersburg.jpg|thumb|A bayonet charge during the [[Third Battle of Petersburg]], [[Virginia]] (1865) during the [[American Civil War]]]]
During the [[American Civil War]] (1861–1865) the bayonet was found to be responsible for less than 1% of battlefield casualties,<ref>O'Connell, Robert L., "Arme Blanche", ''Military History Quarterly'', Vol. 5, nº 1.</ref> a hallmark of [[modern warfare]]. The use of bayonet charges to force the enemy to retreat was very successful in numerous small unit engagements at short range in the American Civil War, as most troops would retreat when charged while reloading. Although such charges inflicted few casualties, they often decided short engagements, and tactical possession of important defensive ground features. Additionally, bayonet drill could be used to rally men temporarily unnerved by enemy fire.<ref>The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War</ref>
 
While the overall [[Battle of Gettysburg]] was won by the Union armies due to a combination of terrain and massed artillery fire, a decisive point on the second day of the battle hinged on a bayonet charge at [[Little Round Top]] when [[Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain]]'s [[20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment]], running short of musket ammunition, charged downhill, surprising and capturing many of the surviving soldiers of the [[15th Alabama Infantry Regiment]] and other Confederate regiments. Other bayonet charges occurred at Gettysburg, such as that of the [[1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment]]. This was ordered in desperation by [[Winfield Scott Hancock|General Hancock]] earlier on July 2 in order to delay a Confederate brigade's advance long enough to bring up reinforcements for the holed Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Still another bayonet charge was conducted late in the evening on July 2 by the [[137th New York Infantry Regiment]] defending the extreme right flank of the Union line on Culp's Hill. The charge of several companies managed to temporarily stall the advance of the [[10th Virginia Infantry Regiment]] long enough for the [[14th Regiment (New York State Militia)|14th Brooklyn]] to move in on the 137th's right and repel the attack.

===Going over the top===
[[File:Cpe french bayonet 01.jpg|thumb|French infantry bayonet charge, carrying [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle|1886 Lebel rifles]], in 1913]]

The popular image of World War I combat is of a wave of soldiers with bayonets fixed, "going over the top" and charging across [[no man's land]] into a hail of enemy fire. Although this was the standard method of fighting early in the war, it was rarely successful. British casualties on the first day of the [[Battle of the Somme]] were the worst in the history of the British army, with {{nowrap|57,470 British}} casualties, {{nowrap|19,240 of}} whom were killed.{{sfn|Edmonds|1993|p=483}}{{sfn|Prior|Wilson|2005|p=119}}

During World War I, no man's land was often hundreds of yards across.<ref name="Hamilton">{{citation |last=Hamilton |first=John |title=Trench Fighting of World War I |page=8 |year=2003 |publisher=ABDO |isbn=978-1-57765-916-7}}</ref> The area was usually devastated by the warfare and riddled with craters from artillery and mortar shells, and sometimes contaminated by [[chemical weapon]]s. Heavily defended by [[machine gun]]s, [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]]s, [[artillery]], and [[riflemen]] on both sides, it was often covered with [[barbed wire]] and [[land mine]]s, and littered with the rotting corpses of those who were not able to make it across the sea of projectiles, explosions, and flames. A bayonet charge through no man's land often resulted in the total annihilation of entire battalions.

[[File:No-man's-land-flanders-field.jpg|thumb|centre|upright=3|A stretch of no man's land in [[Flanders Fields]], [[France]], 1919]]

===Banzai charges===
The advent of modern warfare in the 20th century made bayonet charges dubious affairs. During the [[Siege of Port Arthur]] (1904–1905), the Japanese used human wave attacks against Russian artillery and machine guns,<ref name="Miller2014" /> suffering massive casualties.<ref name="Edgerton1997" /><ref name="O'ConnellBatchelor2002" />

[[File:Imperial Japanese Army Infantry 111th Regiment soldier and Indian National Army soldier.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army shout banzai]]

However, during the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], the Japanese were able to use bayonet charges effectively against poorly organized and lightly armed Chinese troops. [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] became an accepted military tactic where Japanese forces were able to [[rout]] larger Chinese forces routinely.<ref name="routledgegenocide" />

In the early stages of the [[Pacific War]] (1941–1945), a sudden bayonet charge could overwhelm unprepared enemy soldiers. Such charges became known to Allied forces as [[Banzai charge|"Banzai charges"]] from the Japanese battle cry. By the end of the war, against well organized and heavily armed Allied forces, a banzai charge inflicted little damage but at high cost. They were sometimes conducted as a last resort by small groups of surviving soldiers when the main battle was already lost.

Some Japanese commanders, such as General [[Tadamichi Kuribayashi]], recognized the futility and waste of such attacks and expressly forbade their men from carrying them out. Indeed, the Americans were surprised that the Japanese did not employ banzai charges at the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]].<ref name="iwojima" />

===Human wave attack===
The term "[[human wave attack]]" was often misused to describe the Chinese short attack<ref name="appleman363">{{harvnb|Appleman|p=363|1990}}.</ref>—a combination of [[infiltration tactics|infiltration]] and the [[shock tactics]] employed by the [[People's Liberation Army]] during the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953).<ref name="roe435">{{harvnb|Roe|2000|p=435}}.</ref> A typical Chinese short attack was carried out at night by sending a series of small five-man [[fireteam]]s to attack the weakest point of an enemy's defenses.<ref name="roe435" /> The Chinese assault team would crawl undetected within grenade range, then launch surprise attacks with fixed bayonets against the defenders in order to breach the defenses by relying on maximum shock and confusion.<ref name="roe435" />

If the initial shock failed to breach the defenses, additional fireteams would press on behind them and attack the same point until a breach was created.<ref name="roe435" /> Once penetration was achieved, the bulk of the Chinese forces would move into the enemy rear and attack from behind.<ref name="alexander331">{{harvnb|Alexander|1986|p=311}}.</ref> Due to primitive communication systems and tight political controls within the Chinese army, short attacks were often repeated until either the defenses were penetrated or the attackers were completely annihilated.<ref name="roe435" />

This persistent attack pattern left a strong impression on UN forces that fought in Korea, giving birth to the description of "human wave".<ref name="appleman353">{{harvnb|Appleman|1989|p=353}}.</ref> The term "human wave" was later used by journalists and military officials to convey the image of the American soldiers being assaulted by overwhelming numbers of Chinese on a broad front, which is inaccurate when compared with the normal Chinese practice of sending successive series of small teams against a weak point in the line.<ref name="appleman362">{{harvnb|Appleman|p=362|1990}}.</ref> It was in fact rare for the Chinese to actually use densely concentrated infantry formations to absorb enemy firepower.<ref name="marshall5">{{harvnb|Marshall|1988|p=5}}.</ref>

===Modern usage===
One use the Germans in World War II made of bayonets was to search for people in hiding. One person hiding in a house in the Netherlands wrote<ref>Prins Marcel & Steenhuis, Peter Henk, "Hidden," Arthur A. Levine Books, New York,  2011, p. 35.</ref>: <blockquote>"The Germans made lots of noise as they came upstairs, and they stabbed their bayonets into the wall. Then what we'd always feared actually happened:  A bayonet went through the thin wallpaper above the closet, exposing the three people who were hiding there. 'Raus!' cried the Germans. 'Out!'".</blockquote>[[File:Aftermath of a Turkish bayonet charge.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of a bayonet charge at [[Korean War]].]]

During the Korean War, the [[French Battalion in the Korean War|French Battalion]] and [[Turkish Brigade]] used bayonet charges against enemy combatants.<ref name="grey1988" /> In 1951, United States Army officer [[Lewis L. Millett]] led soldiers of the [[27th Infantry Regiment (United States)|US Army's 27th Infantry Regiment]] in capturing a machine gun position with bayonets. Historian [[S. L. A. Marshall]] described the attack as "the most complete bayonet charge by American troops since [[Battle of Cold Harbor|Cold Harbor]]". The location subsequently became known as Bayonet Hill.<ref name="bgobit" /> This was the last bayonet charge by the US Army. Millett was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref name="pe20091114" /><ref name="wpobit" />

On 23 October 1962, during the [[Sino-Indian War]], 20 Indian soldiers led by [[Joginder Singh (soldier)|Joginder Singh]] fixed bayonets and charged a force of 200 Chinese soldiers. While the charge would prove futile for Singh and his men, it initially threw the Chinese off guard and forced a retreat despite outnumbering them 10 to 1.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

On 8 May 1970, National Guardsmen [[University of New Mexico bayoneting incident|attacked student demonstrators with bayonets]] at the [[University of New Mexico]] in Albuquerque. The demonstrators were protesting the war in Vietnam and Cambodia, and [[Kent State Killings|the killing]] of four students at Kent State University. Eleven were injured, some seriously.<ref>[https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2020-05-16/bayoneting-victims-recall-50th-anniversary-of-unm-bloodshed Bayoneting Victims Recall 50th Anniversary of UNM Bloodshed] USNews. Associated Press. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2023</ref>
 
In 1982, the British Army mounted bayonet charges during the [[Falklands War]], notably the [[3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] during the [[Battle of Mount Longdon]] and the [[Scots Guards|2nd Battalion, Scots Guards]] during the final assault of [[Battle of Mount Tumbledown|Mount Tumbledown]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clack |first1=Tim |last2=Pollard |first2=Tony |date=2024-01-02 |title=The archaeological survey of remains from the 1982 Falklands war |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15740773.2024.2321397 |journal=Journal of Conflict Archaeology |language=en |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=65–101 |doi=10.1080/15740773.2024.2321397 |issn=1574-0773|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-12 |title=The Falklands {{!}} Remembrance {{!}} Royal British Legion |url=https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/stories/the-falklands-it-s-important-that-those-who-gave-their-lives-are-remembered |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203042000/https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/stories/the-falklands-it-s-important-that-those-who-gave-their-lives-are-remembered |archive-date=2023-12-03 |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=The Royal British Legion |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramsey |first=Gordon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9BkEAAAQBAJ&q=bayonette&pg=PP1 |title=The Falklands War: Then and Now |date=2009-03-30 |publisher=After the Battle |isbn=978-1-3990-7632-6 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1995, during the [[Siege of Sarajevo]], UN peacekeepers of the French [[3rd Marine Infantry Regiment]] charged Serbian forces at the [[Battle of Vrbanja bridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=- granulés & pellets |url=http://www.granules-pellets.latretoire.org/video/PAPox1A3F6U/French-peacekeepers-assault-on-the-Vrbanja-bridge-Bosnian-war.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043940/http://www.granules-pellets.latretoire.org/video/PAPox1A3F6U/French-peacekeepers-assault-on-the-Vrbanja-bridge-Bosnian-war.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref> Actions led by the regiment allowed the [[United Nations peacekeeping|UN peacekeepers]] to retreat from a threatened position. Two fatalities and seventeen wounded resulted.

During the [[Iraq War|Second Gulf War]] and the war in [[Afghanistan]], British Army units mounted several bayonet charges.<ref name="Telegraph 2004 06 13" /> In 2004, at the [[Battle of Danny Boy]] in Iraq, the [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders]] charged mortar positions of the [[Mahdi Army]]. The ensuing hand-to-hand fighting resulted in an estimate of over 40 insurgents killed and 35 bodies collected and nine prisoners. Sergeant Brian Wood, of the [[Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment]], was awarded the [[Military Cross]] for his part in the battle.<ref name="bbcwyatt" />

In 2009, Lieutenant James Adamson of the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]] was awarded the Military Cross for a bayonet charge while in Afghanistan. Adamson had run out of ammunition so he immediately charged a Taliban fighter with his bayonet.<ref name="bbcbayonet" />

Lance Corporal Sean Jones of The Princess of Wales's Regiment was awarded the Military Cross for his role in a 2011 bayonet charge.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 September 2012 |title=Shropshire soldier Lance Cpl Jones awarded Military Cross |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-19755107 |access-date=2012-09-28 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref name="jstorbayonet" />

== Usage ==

==="Reach" controversy===
[[File:Bayonet team of "H" Company, 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment in the Imperial fortress colony of Gibraltar in 1913.jpg|thumb|Competitive bayonet team of "H" Company, 2nd Battalion, [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment|Lincolnshire Regiment]], equipped with non-lethal dummy weapons, in the [[Imperial fortress]] colony of [[Gibraltar]] in 1913]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 136-B1356, Kasernenhof - Fechten.jpg|thumb|German soldiers at bayonet practice in 1914]]
[[File:On Board the Battleship HMS Rodney. October 1940, Training on Board the Battleship. A1210.jpg|thumb|Six sailors with Lee–Enfield rifles, standing in the 'On Guard' position during rifle and bayonet drill on board the battleship {{HMS|Rodney|29|6}}. October 1940.]]
[[File:Border Security of the 50th parallel of north.JPG|thumb|From 1899 to 1945, the Japanese used the very long, 15.75 inches (40 cm), Type 30 sword-bladed bayonet on the already long [[Arisaka]] rifle.]]

Prior to World War I, bayonet doctrine was largely founded upon the concept of "reach"; that is, a soldier's theoretical ability, by use of an extremely long rifle and fixed bayonet, to stab an enemy soldier without having to approach within reach of his opponent's blade.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="HUT">Hutton, Alfred, ''Fixed Bayonets: A Complete System of Fence for the British Magazine Rifle'', London: William Clowes & Sons (1890), pp. v, 125, 131–132</ref><ref name="BAR">Barrett, Ashley W., "Lessons to be Learned by Regimental Officers from the Russo-Japanese War", "Journal of the Military Service Institution of the United States", Volume 45, (March–April 1909), pp. 300–301.</ref> A combined length of rifle and bayonet longer than that of the enemy infantryman's rifle and attached bayonet, like the infantryman's pike of bygone days, was thought to impart a tactical advantage on the battlefield.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="BAR" /><ref name="HOP">Hopkins, Albert A., ''Scientific American War Book: the Mechanism and Technique of Warfare'', New York: Munn & Co. (1915) p. 141</ref><ref name="PRA">''Praktische Bajonett-Fechtschule: auf Grund der Bajonettir-Vorschrift für die Infanterie'', Berlin: E. S. Mittler und Sohn (1889)</ref>

In 1886, the French army introduced a {{convert|52|cm|in|round=0.5|adj=mid|-long}} quadrangular [[épée]] spike for the bayonet of the [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle]], the ''Épée-Baïonnette Modèle 1886'', resulting in a rifle and bayonet with an overall length of {{convert|6|ft|m|spell=in}}. Germany responded by introducing a long sword bayonet for the [[Gewehr 98|Model 1898 Mauser]] rifle, which had a 29-inch barrel. The bayonet, the ''Seitengewehr 98'', had a 50&nbsp;cm (19.7-inch) blade.<ref name="HOP" /> With an overall length of {{convert|5|ft|9|in|m}}, the German army's rifle/bayonet combination was second only to the French Lebel for overall 'reach'.<ref name="HOP" />

After 1900, Switzerland, Britain, and the United States adopted rifles with barrel lengths shorter than that of a rifled musket, but longer than that of a carbine.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="SET">Seton-Karr, Henry (Sir), "Rifle", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (11th ed.), New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Co., Vol. 23 (''Ref–Sai'')(1911), p. 328</ref> These were intended for general use by infantry and cavalry.<ref name="SET" /> The "reach" of the new short rifles with attached bayonets was reduced.<ref name="BRA" /> Britain introduced the [[Lee–Enfield#Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk I|SMLE]] (Short, Magazine, Lee–Enfield), in 1904.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="SET" /> The German M1898 Mauser rifle and attached sword bayonet was 20&nbsp;cm (eight inches) longer than the SMLE and its P1903 bayonet, which used a twelve-inch (30&nbsp;cm) blade.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="PEG">Pegler, Martin and Chappell, Mike, ''Tommy 1914–18'' (Vol. 16), New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd., {{ISBN|978-1-85532-541-8}} (1996), p. 16</ref> While the British P1903 and its similar predecessor, the P1888, was satisfactory in service, criticism soon arose regarding the shortened reach.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="HOP" /><ref name="SET" /><ref name="TIL">Tilson, John Q. (Hon.), ''Weapons of Aerial Warfare: Speech By Hon. John Q. Tilson, Delivered June 1, 1917'', United States House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1918), p. 84</ref> One military writer of the day warned: "The German soldier has eight inches the better of the argument over the British soldier when it comes to crossing bayonets, and the extra eight inches easily turns the battle in favour of the longer, if both men are of equal skill."<ref name="HOP" />

In 1905, the German Army adopted a shortened {{convert|37|cm|in|round=0.5|adj=mid|-long}} bayonet, the ''Seitengewehr 98/05'' for engineer and pioneer troops, and in 1908, a short rifle as well, the ''Karabiner Model 1898AZ'', which was produced in limited quantities for the cavalry, artillery, and other specialist troops.<ref>James, Gary, "[http://archives.gunsandammo.com/content/germanys-karabiner-98az?page=1 Germany's Karabiner 98AZ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607012053/http://archives.gunsandammo.com/content/germanys-karabiner-98az?page=1|date=7 June 2013}}", ''Guns & Ammo'' (June 2010), retrieved 17 November 2011</ref> However, the long-barreled 98 Mauser rifle remained in service as the primary infantry small arm.<ref>Ezell, Edward C., ''Small Arms of the World: A Basic Manual of Small Arms'', Volume 11, p. 502</ref> Moreover, German military authorities continued to promote the idea of outreaching one's opponent on the battlefield by means of a longer rifle/bayonet combination, a concept prominently featured in its infantry bayonet training doctrines.<ref name="PRA" /> These included the ''throw point'' or ''extended thrust-and-lunge'' attack.<ref name="CRO">Crossman, Edward C., "The Rifle of the Hun", ''Popular Mechanics'', Vol. 30, No. 2 (1918), pp. 183–185.</ref> Using this tactic, the German soldier dropped into a half-crouch, with the rifle and fixed bayonet held close to the body.<ref name="CRO" /> In this position the soldier next propelled his rifle forward, then dropped the supporting hand while taking a step forward with the right foot, simultaneously thrusting out the right arm to full length with the extended rifle held in the grip of the right hand alone.<ref name="CRO" /> With a maximum 'kill zone' of some eleven feet, the ''throw point'' bayonet attack gave an impressive increase in 'reach', and was later adopted by other military forces, including the U.S. Army.<ref name="CRO" /><ref>Stacey, Cromwell (Capt.), "Training in Bayonet Fighting: Throw Point", ''U.S. Infantry Journal'', Vol. 10, No. 6 (1914) pp. 870–871.</ref>

In response to criticism over the reduced reach of the SMLE rifle and bayonet, British ordnance authorities introduced the P1907 bayonet in 1908, which had an elongated blade of some seventeen inches to compensate for the reduced overall length of the SMLE rifle.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="BAR" /><ref name="SET" /><ref>'' Notes on Naval Progress, Section II: Small Arms'', General Information Series Volume 20, United States Office of Naval Intelligence, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (July 1901), p. 198</ref><ref name="REG">Regan, Paula (ed.), ''Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor'', London: Penguin Ltd.  {{ISBN|978-0-7566-4219-8}} (2006), p. 284.</ref> The 1907 bayonet was essentially a copy of the Japanese Type 30 bayonet, Britain having purchased a number of Japanese type 30 rifles for the Royal Navy during the preceding years.<ref name="royalarmories" /> U.S. authorities in turn adopted a long (16-in. blade) bayonet for the [[M1903 Springfield]] short rifle, the [[M1905 bayonet]]; later, a [[M1917 bayonet|long sword bayonet]] was also provided for the [[M1917 Enfield]] rifle.<ref name="TIL" />

===Reversal in opinion===
[[File:World-War-II-US-Military-Bayonets.jpg|thumb|US military bayonets; from the top down, they are the M1905, the M1, M1905E1 Bowie Point Bayonet (a cut down version of the M1905), and the M4 Bayonet for the M1 Carbine.]]

The experience of [[World War I]] reversed opinion on the value of long rifles and bayonets in typical infantry combat operations.<ref name="PEG" /><ref name="REG" /><ref name="MCB">McBride, Herbert W., ''A Rifleman Went to War'', Plantersville, SC: Small Arms Technical Publishing Co. (1935), pp. 179–185, 197, 241–243, 335</ref><ref name="KNY">Knyvett, R. Hugh (Capt.), ''Over There with the Australians'', originally published 1918, reprinted by The Echo Library, {{ISBN|978-1-4068-6694-0}} (2011), pp. 152–153.</ref> Whether in the close confines of trench warfare, night time raiding and patrolling, or attacking across open ground, soldiers of both sides soon recognized the inherent limitations of a long and ungainly rifle and bayonet when used as a [[close-quarters battle]] weapon.<ref name="PEG" /><ref name="REG" /><ref name="MCB" /><ref name="KNY" /> Once Allied soldiers had been trained to expect the ''throw point'' or ''extended thrust-and-lunge attack'', the method lost most of its tactical value on the World War I battlefield.<ref name="CRO" /> It required a strong arm and wrist, was very slow to recover if the initial thrust missed its mark, and was easily parried by a soldier who was trained to expect it, thus exposing the German soldier to a return thrust which he could not easily block or parry.<ref name="CRO" /><ref>Moss, James Alfred, ''Manual of Military Training'', Menasha, WI: George Banta Publishing Co. (1914), p. 161: "The adversary may attempt a greater extension in the thrust and lunge by quitting the grasp of his piece with the left hand and advancing the right as far as possible. When this is done, a sharp parry may cause him to lose control of his rifle, leaving him exposed to a counter-attack, which should follow promptly."</ref><ref>United States Marine Corps, ''U.S. Marine Combat Conditioning'', United States Marine Corps Schools (Sep 1944), reprinted Skyhorse Publishing Inc.,  {{ISBN|978-1602399624}} (2011), p. 7: "The...' throw point' as it is sometimes called can be used to thrust from a distance an '''unarmed''' enemy who is running backwards away from you. This would probably be the only time you would actually thrust a man with a...' throw point'...because unless your enemy is off his guard and unless you have a very strong arm, there is too much chance of dropping the rifle or of his knocking it from your hands."</ref> Instead of longer bayonets, infantry forces on both sides began experimenting with other weapons as auxiliary close-quarter arms, including the [[trench knife]], [[Trench raiding club|trench club]], [[handgun]], [[hand grenade]], and [[entrenching tool]].<ref name="MCB" /><ref>Beith, Ian H., "Modern Battle Tactics: Address Delivered April 9, 1917", ''National Service'' (June 1917), pp. 325, 328</ref>

Soldiers soon began employing the bayonet as a knife as well as an attachment for the rifle, and bayonets were often shortened officially or unofficially to make them more versatile and easier to use as tools, or to maneuver in close quarters.<ref name="BRA" /><ref name="REG" /><ref name="MCB" /><ref name="KNY" /> During [[World War II]], bayonets were further shortened into knife-sized weapons in order to give them additional utility as [[Combat knife|fighting]] or [[utility knife|utility knives]].<ref name="BRA" /> The vast majority of modern bayonets introduced since World War II are of the [[knife bayonet]] type.<ref name="BRA" />

=== Current deployments ===

==== Soviet Union ====
{{Main|6KH2 bayonet|6KH3 bayonet|6KH4 bayonet|6KH5 bayonet|6KH9 bayonet}}
The original [[AK-47]] has an adequate but unremarkable bayonet. However, the [[AKM#Accessories|AKM Type I bayonet]] (introduced in 1959) was an improvement of the original design.<ref name="worldbayonets.com">http://worldbayonets.com/Misc__Pages/ak_bayonets/ak_bayonets.html | Kalashnikov Bayonets Ralph E. Cobb, 2010</ref> 

It has a [[Bowie knife|Bowie]] style (clip-point) blade with saw-teeth along the spine, and can be used as a multi-purpose survival knife and wire-cutter when combined with its steel scabbard.<ref name="worldbayonets.com" /><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0weLGUG6o how to use the wire cutter on an akm /ak 47 bayonet]. YouTube (16 July 2009). Retrieved on 2011-09-27.</ref> 

The [[AK-74]] bayonet [[AK-74#Accessories|6Kh5]] (introduced in 1983) represents a further refinement of the AKM bayonet. It introduced a radical blade cross-section, that has a flat milled on one side near the edge and a corresponding flat milled on the opposite side near the false edge.<ref name="worldbayonets.com" /> 

The blade has a new spear point and an improved one-piece moulded plastic grip, making it a more effective fighting knife.<ref name="worldbayonets.com" /> 

It also has saw-teeth on the false edge and the usual hole for use as a wire-cutter.<ref name="worldbayonets.com" /> 

The wire cutting versions of the AK bayonets each have an electrically insulated handle and an electrically insulated part of the scabbard, so it can be used to cut an electrified wire.

==== United States ====
{{Main|M7 bayonet|M9 bayonet|OKC-3S bayonet}}

The American [[M16 rifle]] used the [[M7 bayonet]] which is based on earlier designs such as the [[M4 bayonet|M4]], [[M5 bayonet|M5]] and [[M6 bayonet|M6]] models, all of which are direct descendants of the [[M3 Fighting Knife]] and have a spear-point blade with a half sharpened secondary edge. 

The newer [[M9 bayonet|M9]] has a clip-point blade with saw-teeth along the spine, and can be used as a multi-purpose knife and wire-cutter when combined with its scabbard. It can even be used by troops to cut their way free through the relatively thin metal skin of a crashed helicopter or airplane. 

The current USMC [[OKC-3S bayonet]] bears a resemblance to the Marines' iconic [[Ka-Bar]] fighting knife with serrations near the handle.

==== People's Republic of China ====
{{Main|QNL-95}}

The [[Type 56 assault rifle]] includes the copy of an integral folding spike bayonet, similar to the SKS rifle<ref name="Century 2000. page 230-231">{{cite book |last1=Hogg |first1=Ian V. |title=Military Small Arms of the 20th Century |last2=Weeks |first2=John S. |publisher=Krause Publications |year=2000 |edition=7th |pages=230–231}}</ref> or for some models, that of the AKM Type II bayonet.<ref name="Century 2000. page 230-231" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese AK Bayonets |url=http://www.ak47bayonets.com/AK47_Bayonet_Chinese.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426090259/http://www.ak47bayonets.com/AK47_Bayonet_Chinese.php |archive-date=26 April 2012 |access-date=2012-10-18}}</ref> The [[QBZ-95]], has a multi-purpose knife bayonet similar to the US M9.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bayonets of China |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/China/China_2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803163542/http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/China/China_2.html |archive-date=2018-08-03 |access-date=2025-06-09}}</ref>

==== Belgium ====
The [[FN FAL]] has two types of bayonet. The first is a traditional spear point bayonet. The second is the Type C socket bayonet introduced in the 1960s.<ref name="ReferenceA">http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/fal_page/fal_bayonets.html|World{{Dead link|date=January 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Bayonets. FN FAL Bayonets</ref> 

It has a hollow handle that fits over the muzzle and slots that lined up with those on the FAL's 22&nbsp;mm NATO-spec flash hider.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Its spear-type blade is offset to the side of the handle to allow the bullet to pass beside the blade.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

==== United Kingdom ====
The current British L3A1 socket bayonet is based on the [[FN FAL]] Type C socket bayonet with a clip-point blade.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FN-FAL Bayonets |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/fal_page/fal_bayonets.html |website=worldbayonets.com}}</ref> 

It has a hollow handle that fits over the [[SA80|SA80/L85 rifle's]] muzzle and slots that lined up with those on the flash eliminator. The blade is offset to the side of the handle to allow the bullet to pass beside the blade. 

It can also be used as a multi-purpose knife and wire-cutter when combined with its scabbard.<ref name="sadefensejournal.com" /> The scabbard also has a sharpening stone and folding saw blade.<ref name="sadefensejournal.com" /> 

The use of contemporary bayonets by the British army was noted during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan war]] in 2004.<ref name="jstorbayonet" /> Traditionally, bayonets are instead called swords in [[The Rifles]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why do the rifles call bayonets swords? – Sage-Advices |url=https://sage-advices.com/why-do-the-rifles-call-bayonets-swords/#:~:text=In%20The%20Rifles,%20the%20weapons%20usually%20referred%20to%20as%20bayonets%20in%20the%20rest%20of%20British%20Army,%20and%20other%20armies%20around%20the%20world,%20are%20called%20swords.%20Not%20only%20did%20the%20swords%20compensate%20for%20the%20reduced%20length%20of%20the%20rifle,%20they%20could%20also%20be%20used%20as%20close%20quarters%20weapons. |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=sage-advices.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Rifles {{!}} The British Army |url=https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/about-the-army/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/rifles/#:~:text=Renown%20for%20their%20fitness,%20initiative%20and%20fighting%20spirit%20in%20Spain%20and%20Portugal;%20Riflemen%20were%20the%20first%20to%20be%20issued%20rifles%20and%20'swords'%20rather%20than%20muskets%20and%20bayonets. |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=www.army.mod.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==== Germany ====
{{Main|KCB-77 bayonet}}
The [[Heckler & Koch G3|H&K G3 rifle]] uses two types of bayonets, both of which is mounted above the G3's rifle barrel.<ref name="jeffreyhayes.com">{{cite web |title=Bayonet for Heckler & Koch rifles by R.D.C. Evans. October 2009 |url=http://www.jeffreyhayes.com/books/ebook/G3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021021531/http://www.jeffreyhayes.com/books/ebook/G3.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2012 |access-date=2012-10-17 |work=Bayonet Studies Series |issue=4}}</ref> 

The first is the standard G3 bayonet which has a blade similar to the American [[M7 bayonet]].<ref name="jeffreyhayes.com" /> 

The second is an Eickhorn KCB-70 type multi-purpose knife bayonet, featuring a clip-point with saw-back, a wire-cutter scabbard and a distinctive squared handgrip.<ref name="jeffreyhayes.com" /> 

After the German reunification, there was little use of modified [[AKM]] type II knife bayonets from stocks of the former Nationale Volksarmee (National People's Army) of East Germany, for the [[Heckler & Koch G36|H&K G36]] rifle. 

The original muzzle-ring was cut away and a new, large diameter muzzle ring welded in place. The original leather belt hanger was replaced by a complex web and plastic belt hanger designed to fit the West German load bearing equipment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bayonets of Post-War Germany |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/Germany__Post_WW_II_/germany_post_wwii_2.html |website=worldbayonets.com}}</ref>

==== Austria ====
{{Main|Glock knife}}

The [[Steyr AUG]] uses two types of bayonet. The first and most common is an Eickhorn KCB-70 type multi-purpose bayonet with an M16 bayonet type interface. 

The second are the Glock ''Feldmesser 78'' (Field Knife 78) and the ''Feldmesser 81'' (Survival Knife 81), which can also be used as a bayonet, by engaging a socket in the pommel (covered by a plastic cap) into a bayonet adapter that can be fitted to the AUG rifle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bayonets of Austria |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/Austria/Austria_2.html |website=worldbayonets.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=World Bayonets. Austria. Image of Glock Knife mounted on Stryr AUG |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/Austria/feldmesser78_aug.pdf |accessdate=6 March 2023}}</ref><ref>[http://www.armasadictos.com/aa/armas-blancas/bayoneta/6-glock-78-cuchillo-de-campo-o-bayoneta Glock 78 field knife or bayonet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029183546/http://www.armasadictos.com/aa/armas-blancas/bayoneta/6-glock-78-cuchillo-de-campo-o-bayoneta|date=29 October 2013}}. Created on 23 July 2012. Written by Ramon A. Castella.</ref>

These bayonets are noteworthy, as they were meant to be used primarily as field or survival knives and use as a bayonet was a secondary consideration. They can also be used as throwing knives and have a built-in [[bottle opener]] in the [[crossguard]].<ref name="Glock Field Knives">{{Cite web |title=Botach.com &#124; Law Enforcement, Military & Public Safety Gear &#124; FREE Shipping |url=https://botach.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422033251/http://www.botachtactical.com/glockknives.html |archive-date=22 April 2012 |website=botach.com}}</ref><ref name="knifethrowing.info">{{cite web |author=Christian Thiel |title=Review FM81 throwing knife (Glock) |url=http://www.knifethrowing.info/glock_throwing_knife.html |access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref>

==== France ====
The French use a more traditional spear point bayonet with the current [[FAMAS]] bayonet which is nearly identical to that of the [[MAS-49 rifle|M1949/56]] bayonet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bayonets of France |url=http://worldbayonets.com/Bayonet_Identification_Guide/France/france_2.html |website=worldbayonets.com}}</ref> 

The new French [[H&K 416]]F rifle uses the Eickhorn "SG 2000 WC-F", a multi-purpose combat knife/bayonet (similar to the [[KM2000]]) with a wire cutter.<ref name="eickhorn-solingen.de">{{cite web |title=SG 2000 WC-F |url=https://www.eickhorn-solingen.de/SG-2000-WC-F/en |website=www.eickhorn-solingen.de}}</ref> 

It weighs {{convert|320|g|lb|1|abbr=on}}, is {{convert|30.0|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} long with a half serrated {{convert|17.3|cm|in|1|abbr=on}} blade for cutting through ropes.<ref name="eickhorn-solingen.de" /> The synthetic handle and sheath have electrical insulation that protects up to 10,000 volts. The sheath also has a diamond blade sharpener.

==See also==
* [[1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom]], known as the Bayonet Constitution
*[[Aiki-jō]] wooden staff used in the Japanese martial art of Aikido, which in use resembles a bayonet more than a spear. 
*[[Bayonet lug]]
*[[Combatives]]
*[[Jūkendō]]
*[[Spike bayonet]]
*[[Sumpit]], a traditional blowgun in the Philippines and Indonesia fitted with a spearhead for close-quarters combat
*[[Use of bayonets for crowd control]]
*[[Wilfred Owen]] mentions bayonets in the poem ''Soldier's Dream''

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==Further reading==
*''Hunting Weapons'', Howard L Blackmore, 2000, Dover Publications {{ISBN?}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary | bayonet}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Bayonets}}
* [http://worldbayonets.com/ World Bayonets]
* [http://napoleonistyka.atspace.com/infantry_tactics_2.htm Infantry Tactics During the Napoleonic Wars – Bayonet Fights, Bayonet Charges]
* [https://www.forgottenweapons.com/japanese-last-ditch-pole-spear-bayonet/ Japanese Last-Ditch Pole Spear Bayonet]
* [https://patents.google.com/patent/US20040079017A1/en US20040079017A1 - Knife/bayonet device including rapid attachment, shoot through bayonet unit]

{{knives}}
{{Firearms}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bayonets| ]]
[[Category:Edged and bladed weapons]]
[[Category:Firearm components]]
[[Category:French inventions]]