Bayonets ???

In the film "All quiet on the Western Front" (I think, perhaps it was another WW1 movie) A young soldier gets angrily lectured by his CO that he's an idiot for having chipped grooves in his bayonet; and that if the enemy capture him he'll be executed... Anyone know if this is true? We're soldiers executed for having grooved bayonets?

At least one stock model bayonet, the German M1898/05 "Butcher's Knife" was commonly used, mostly on Gewehr 98 Mausers

 

bayonets

The saw back bayonet is a 'Pioneer Bayonet', to be used as a saw, but propaganda made this an evil German weapon, I have had one of these. British and Swiss bayonets with saw back, Swiss at top, British Artillary on red background,collection of German including Pioneer.

 

I am drafted. But we call ourselves enlistees...propaganda i believe,(much to do with Red conscripts) has made this term sound unprofessional.

 

Please do not misunderstand my intentions Grieg.All who have seen battle are brave to me. But you see,it is quite incomphrehensible for me to understand how a bayonet charge would be sensible if the enemy ur facing is equally well trained as you.

 

Ahh, but you are applying logic. Combat itself isn't a logical undertaking. The logical thing to do is run or hide yet relatively few adopt this approach.
Another point that needs to be made is that training is only one part of the overall picture. If two equally well trained units meet and unit A is made up of motivated, aggressive troops and unit B consists of troops of low morale who are poorly led, well my money would be on unit A.

 

Being on the receiving end of a bayonet charge is, by all accounts, quite unnerving, and can cause mild feelings of unease.

The same principal as being on a ship under attack by dive-bombers. In theory, the dive-bomber is a siting duck for the ship's AA fire, as it is essentially heading straight for the ship, so is an easy, deflection-free shot. However, practice showed that relatively few dive-bombers were shot down by AA fire.

 

im afraid many a colonial minuteman peed his pants the minute he observed the glittering steel of the advancing british regulars.we were swept from the field so many times ,im still not sure why we finally prevailedthe difference between brit regulars and yankee farmboy militia is epitomized by skill and confidence with the bayonet

 

True enough when talking about untrained militia facing disciplined regular soldiers. The Continental Army however while never as professional as the Brits had a much better record of standing and fighting than the militia.

 

To quote from Obelix," Those Brits are crazy!"

 

in the book "all quiet on the western front " some new troops (equiped with the new pioneer saw bayonet) captured by the french were found with there eyes, noses and mouths cut out and the voids filled with sawdust ....paul baumer and his buddies took this as a sign of french displeasure with the new sawback bayonet and thereafter reequiped new guys with the old model and threw away the saw types...