French WW1 / WW2 issue Lebel model 1886/35 epee bayonet in scabbard shortened in service circa 1935.
£125
French WW1 / WW2 issue Lebel model 1886/35 epee bayonet in scabbard shortened in service circa 1935. Late model variant without hooked quillion. Brass grip with release catch to the front left has French Ordnance marked cross guard of late WW1 pattern without the hooked quillion previously found on earlier model bayonets with serial number to the base. Needle point cruciform epee blade shortened in service by the French army from 1935 onwards to 13 ½” length from the original 20 ½” to make it a more compact and usable fighting weapon in line with the short bayonets adopted by other major powers in the run up to WW2. The shortened blades were also less prone to snapping off in action. In its issue slim blued steel scabbard which has also been factory shortened to conform to the reduced length of the blade. Adopted to fit the Lebel rifle in 1886, which was the first smokeless powder weapon issued to a major army, the rifle and bayonet were the mainstay of the French army right through WW1. However, even by 1914 both were showing their age and very inferior both to the British SMLE rifle with its ’07 bayonet and the German G98 Mauser and its impressive butcher bayonet. Despite this the Lebel and its bayonet in shortened form continued to see quite widespread use into the first two years of WW2 before the French were over run. In good condition with good clean blade, working catch and a nice issue scabbard. A good regulation pattern WW1 issue French bayonet that saw army service into WW2.
