Pardon my pun, I guess people know the story of the leaning lady of Albert? If not, you ought to read about it. However, this “leaning” thing is not a statue, but a bayonet.
The Albert thing matches though. The person I got this from purchased it at a local market in Albert, France, about three decades ago. It is not a rusted relic, so must have been found and brought indoors shortly after what took place. Of course, the detailed story of what happened is lost in the mists of time, but something did happen, and with stupendous force! This is one of those collectibles of mine that make me stop and think, it puts things into perspective.
First of all. This is a standard post-1915 S84/98 bayonet of the second pattern, manufactured by J. A. Henckels, with their twin logo. These were mainly used with the Kar98A rifle. (See my earlier blogs for the history and development of these bayonets)
But, why is this one so oddly shaped? What happened to it? Well, whatever it was it happened with spectacular force, and I shudder at the thought of what may have happened to whoever was carrying it.
In the front of the scabbard it has been hit by two projectiles, possibly bullets or perhaps more probably shell fragments? Whatever it was the force was so immense that the tang of the bayonet was shattered. Which would indicate that the bayonet was not lying loose, but must have been pinned between something, carried fastened to a belt perhaps? For the tang to shatter from hits down at the scabbard, something must have stopped the bayonet from just rotating.
It is hard to even imagine the sheer force at work here, and I cannot imagine that someone who carried it could have survived. Food for thought, that.
As we look at the war from a distance of more than a hundred years it is easy to see the casualties as mere numbers, maybe even romanticize it, seeing the quaint old style uniforms and headgear of a bygone era. However, things like this show with poignant clarity that real people lived in this terrible situation, and suffered and died. Is this bayonet a relic showing the terrible effect of the stupendously heavy bombardments at the Somme? I believe so. Makes me think…