British WW1 Lee Enfield 1907 Pattern Bayonet, Royal Marines, Dated 1917
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. Brown leather No. 1 Mk 2 scabbard with steel locket & circular frog stud and steel chape piece.
The ricasso is stamped on one side with a crown over ‘GR’, 1907 (the pattern) ‘9 ‘17’, indicating the manufacture date of September 1917, the manufacturer’s mark ‘WILKINSON’, a crown inspection stamp and a reissue stamp dated ’21. 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 grip slabs are each stamped with a crown inspection mark between the screws.
The pommel is stamped with ‘R M’, indicating issue to the Royal Marines. The leather of the scabbard is stamped next to the seam with another broad arrow mark, another crown inspection mark, the manufacturer’s mark ‘EFD’ for the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield and the manufacture date ’17. The throat piece of the scabbard is stamped next to the staple with a tiny stamp consisting of a broad arrow, ‘EFD’ again and ‘AV’.
The First World War required a massive expansion of the Royal Marines, as they moved beyond their traditional role as fleet defence and naval gunners to contribute trained manpower to a land war of unprecedented scale. In September 1914, the Marines initiated short-service recruitment for the first time in their history, enlisting men only “for the duration of the war".
However, there was a severe shortage of equipment to support this infantry role. The Royal Navy entered the war with a mixed inventory of British service rifles, but these were spread out across storehouses and ships. Under time pressure the 1st Royal Naval Brigade was forced to deploy to Belgium in September 1914 armed with the Charger-Loading Lee Enfield (a modified version of the Lee-Metford and Magazine Lee Enfield rifles) rather than the up-to-date Short Magazine Lee Enfield. Even these previous-generation rifles had to be scrounged at extremely short notice, arriving days or even hours before embarkation.
In November 1914 Winston Churchill, at that time First Lord of the Admiralty, ordered all SMLEs and CLLEs to be collected from ship armouries across the fleet and supplied to the Royal Naval Division (which included the Marines). This got some modern rifles into the hands of the Marines, although the bulk of this tithe was handed over to the Army, its needs being even greater.
The situation began to stabilise: Marines fighting on land started to upgrade to the SMLE and its bayonet while naval vessels were left to use truly antiquated equipment like the Martini Henry rifle, or more exotic replacements: Japanese Arisaka rifles and bayonets were purchased and issued to those Royal Marines still aboard ships, later replaced with the Canadian Ross rifle. However, shortages were still so serious that the Admiralty purchased sporting rifles from BSA in March 1915, and Marines deployed to Gallipoli in April 1915 still predominantly carrying the CLLE.
In 1916 the Royal Naval Division was moved from Admiralty control to that of the War Office, which improved supply of SMLE rifles – the simplified Mk III* rifle was also introduced in January 1916 and Pattern 1914 rifles made in America began to be delivered. It would appear that by 1916 all frontline Marines were finally assured of a modern rifle and bayonet like this one. Over the course of the conflict the Royal Marines grew from a pre-war strength of roughly 18,000 to over 55,000 personnel.
Matching manufacture dates suggest that this bayonet and scabbard are probably an original pair. The reissue stamp suggests it remained in service with the Royal Marines beyond WW1 and into the interwar period, in which the flow of equipment reversed sending the SMLE from demobilising units back to storehouses and ships. The SMLE remained in service with the Royal Marines throughout WW2, although Commando units transitioned to the newer No. 4 rifle and the No. 5 ‘Jungle Carbine’ for their amphibious operations by 1944. The SMLE was retired in 1957, except a few held for ceremonial use and Royal Marine Cadet training rifles.
The blade is bright with some light patination and grinding marks. It retains its blued band at the ricasso. No damage to its edge, which has been sharpened. The wood grips are excellent with only a couple of very light dents, a glossy finish with good colour to the wood and no apparent handling wear leaving the inspection stamps very clear. The hilt, pommel, exposed tang and scabbard fittings are blued – this finish is in good condition with wear only on the most raised edges and a few spots of light patination. A couple of short, fine scratches to the scabbard fittings which show up bright. The leather body of the scabbard has some surface abrasion giving a slightly rough texture overall, no major dents or damage. All the scabbard’s stitching remains intact.
