On Monday 16 February 2009, you wrote: |
Paul, that's interesting info about the bayonet charges vs. clubbing, but I'm curious what you mean by they were drilled to "use the point in preference". Does that mean that they would poke or jab the enemy with the barrel itself? |
He means the opposite--that is, even when issued bayonets and instructed to fix them for combat, soldiers not specifically trained to do otherwise preferred to club their weapons. To prevent their doing that, they were drilled in thrusting with the bayonet, so that it replaced clubbing as their "natural" action in hand-to-hand combat. They would not have thrust with bare barrels. If lacking bayonets, they would indeed have clubbed their firearms, swinging them to strike with the butts at the risk of breaking them off, or perhaps would have thrust with the butts, which is less viscerally satisfying--a surprisingly important consideration--but which can be at least as effective as clubbing and is certainly less risky for the weapon.
I hope that this proves helpful.
Best,
Mark Millman