"FIX SWORDS."

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15444, 5 September 1914, Page 11

"FIX SWORDS."

♦ ! THE BAYONET BUSINESS. j j AFTER YEARS OF INVENTION. ! i COT/D STKKL FOLLOWS FIRE. ! j . Man's machines for spreading death ! and ruin in war have gained in power j tilt to-dav the c.ont cinplat .lon of their j i-apaciy "to kill or maim. is not an a;d to dreamless sloop. Recent cab'e. nusj ages, have referred to Gorman masses i "mown down l:ke c irn." or demolished ■ as it "smitten l>y a g.ant with a titanic j i>xo." Yet cold steel still seems to bo : p.aying a hot enough part in war._ Lead a;ui scrap-iron may sweep ;i. landscape, hilt- men get- through somehow, by the help of various cover or oven stra-:g!it-on desperate dashes: —and the years of invention vaiiisli with the first clash of tempered steel. It is the okl primeval struggle of man with man,.the glare of eyes Thai; know the dceis.oii of life or death is to he short, and not sweet. AVIIO LIKES THE BAYONET?

Some of the reports have mentioned an eagerness of the French t-o get :<t the Gcimans wvth the bayonet. The sons of the Republic, have hern credited with a passion for the bayonet, and Germans are said to have an equal distaste. "The Germans do not like the bayonet" stated one despatch, which means that the Germans do not like to bo perforated or jirodded to death or disablement, by a sharp twirling blade. Tuo comment on the Germans' non-fondness of this treatment implies that them may be men of other nat.ciis who regard a bayonet poke, as a good joko or a pleasant stimulus to the vital system. The experience of modern wars shows tlist the enjoyment- of the bayonet do pi-nds on whether a man is in front or behind the business end. Of course, there are soldiers of some countries who inherit- a preference for ckjscrtiuarLOj's work. .The Russians are in this class: tlie.y l:kt* to have the enemy's bydy near enough for a thrust. ' - H:s strong po.nt is sCol'id endurance ro.ther tluui.brilliant daslu Jiiit the traditions of the Russian army w.ltli regard to the bayonet are deeply implanted in him ; every Russian sold.cr is iirmly convinced that- the bayonet is in every resp'act superior to the ballet."' wrote an English officer in a review of infantry tactics of the RussoJapanese war. OPINIONS DIFFER. . One. British officer (ColoneLJ. AY. GTulloch, Indian Army), lyito went through ilie Ma.iichurian campaign w.tli a Japanese division wrote:—

"Ths war has so far .undoubtedly proved that. detenu ned assaulting infantry wi'iL eventually have to use.the bayonet against stubborn defenders before they can gain thfrlr objective; it lias also proved that when opposing lorces are m clcse contact night attacks arc leasibh:' and in the majority of cases, when carried out with determiu ation. they arc successful. These facts make worthy of consideration the question of swords for officers and of rc-taijuiig as long a combined fi'lle and bayonet as are possessed by our possible enemies. The Japanese successes with the bayonet are due to personal.- act.h-.ty o:i the part of the lnhuurv .io'd:er, a quality v.neh is not to befound developed to nearly so iligh . a degree in any European army.'' Another observer of the Russol,Japanese war (Lieutenant-Colonel Haidaiie, D.5.0.) has stated: "The fights for localities. which have been a feature of the battles of Manchuria, clearly po:jit t> the necessity of making men'expert in the use of tie bayonet. Of late Years 1 am tchl that th.s matter has been somewhat overlooked by the Japanese, but it is now held that bayonet-figlit.ng must bo legarded in future as an iiuportant part of an infantry sokker's training. A Japanese officer has remarked:— ' "Ha:;d-to.hai d iight'ng, so far as my expei'.enec .goes. lasts genera.lv a few minutes, but at one p.ace we fought for ten minutes —a regular mo lee" in which we were very much crowded together." In a- general report on experiences of the Russo-Japanese "War, Colvnicl \\ aters, o,\ .0., G.M.G., after a reference. to the frequent occurrence cf hand-to-hand fighting, says: "If troop; who are about to he attacked" with tue bayonet be shots, and not hopelessly oi«: numbered, 1 consider that no infantry could get near enough to tii'iem to use tin; .bayonet, or, to put it another way. fire sliould be the predominant factor in a battle. . . .Experience in the field tooh taught the Russians that, in the attack, tire was better ihan the bayonet, and extons'on preferable to the clcse order m which they had been trained.'' Urouting the various opinions of Lr.ttsh authorities, tho is: Cold steel tus well w'.tli hot fire. Tho enemy has to bo punished by the artillery and field guns before an attack, ami worried by covering lire while the bayonets advance.

THE BAYONET'S EVOLUTION. Though etymologists s.t'll dispute about ilie origin (if the word lmyo::et, it ;s commonly bel'evod that tln> 11:11110 is deliver! from Bayonne (Franco), where the- short dagger known as the hayonnctte was first made towards the end of die fifteenth century. In the middle of the seventeentii century Co.i----l nout.nl musketvers used steel d'ajrgi-r.* fixed in a wooden hai't, which lilted into the muzzle of the firearm. There is circumstantial evidence that English troops used plug bayonets (tlien ealied daggersKi at Tangier in 1G63-1-. This anachiiient had one obvous disadvantage; if stopped firing. It is state.] that a ci.ntr.lmtory cause ol t'he de'eat : of the Engbsh In- the S."itch at Ki.l:erankie in 1689 was the fire-prr vontiw |ilug-bayonet. Th s theory ;s supported byliieiaet that, toon after his m.sl'nr--t.une the English General (Maekay). invented and introduced a ring baycnei wh'i'.i could be fixed without checking the tile. Socket and ring bayonets <>l visr.ous designs were used till 15-.115. when Sir .J(.an Mooio Mitioiluved a bnyi.iu't fastened lo ilic musket In- a spring 'I he i ri:uifriil:ir l:nyoiiot remained. and was us>il in the British Army mit'i the magazine rille was adopted, when _t was ee,l In- the sword-Layonet. J he Ru.sans st-il have the triangular weapon. which was without, edg s during the Kusso-.lapa:x so war. Thus, in "- report oi one experience a Japanese oiliver remarked;—"ln the ease of the two men killed with my sword. I man. aged to catch hold of the bayonet-in my left hand: tlrs lias often been a d to tile luiss an infantry.'• CI [ANGIXG FASHIONS. Early 11Tins of the blade had a se: - - ratvil back, a very ugly saw. which i ven comparatively young s.Miers remember v. ell. | ■"laeeralor" :'s ebso'cte in uvar.y all annus. :i" j:oi- in all. j la ls'tn th,. Italians usv.l a carbine with an jm-eparahle bayoiu-t. but th • p> nnaneiit tixtur" has gone oui <tt iaM'.;cn — ;l < an irishman mav sav. The United S:ate-, in I'm.-,, adif'grd a f'.ion r-tle w.th a rod-bayonet. T.Us weapon, "ben lan. i n use. rested in the fure.end o! the rdle. I ke a ramrod, and was run cut when nf|uired. Th s inncvatoii " ;ls 111,1 eop.ed by other countries. I