British Lee Enfield 1907 Pattern Bayonet by Sanderson, 1918
Straight single-fullered knife blade, steel hilt with muzzle ring, wood slab grips secured by two screws, steel beaked pommel with oil hole and locking button. Black leather scabbard with steel locket & circular frog stud and steel chape piece. Brown leather frog of South African type, possibly a later addition.
The ricasso is stamped on one side with a crown over ‘GR’, 1907 (the pattern) ‘8 18’, indicating the manufacture date of August 1918, and the manufacturer’s mark ‘Sanderson’. On the other side it is stamped with a ‘broad arrow’ War Department stores mark, three crown inspection marks with ‘E’ indicating the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, and an ‘X’ indicating that it passed a manufacturer’s bending test.
The pommel is stamped with ‘C’ over ‘C H’ over ‘886’. The ‘CH’ part might indicate the Cheshire Regiment.
The chape piece of the scabbard is stamped next to the staple with M/44, which was the manufacture during WW2 for J. B. Brooks & Co. Ltd of Birmingham. The scabbard may therefore be a later replacement for the WW1 era bayonet. The front side of the frog is stamped with a crown and broad arrow. The rear side of the frog is stamped with a letter ‘U’ within which is a letter ‘M’, which is a South African government ownership stamp.
The blade is blued with no edge damage, light rubbing on its raised edges to reveal bright steel. A more heavily blued band remains at the ricasso. Some small dents to the wood grips and chipping next to their screws. Traces of olive green paint are visible on recessed areas of the hilt, grips and pommel, suggesting old camouflage which has since mostly worn away to reveal the original steel with its blued finish. The scabbard fittings have some light scratching, numerous tiny dents to the chape piece as well as some small patches of dark patination on the reverse side. The leather of the scabbard has some surface rubbing and dents, some patches of abrasion at its edges. All of its stitching is intact.
