Argentine Type A Knife Bayonet for the FN FAL with Leather Frog, Falklands War, Matching Numbers
Spear-pointed knife blade with partial false edge. Blade length 7¾ inches, the bayonet 12¼ inches overall. Steel hilt with muzzle ring and integral flash-hider prongs, black plastic grip scales held by two screws, exposed tang, steel pommel. Steel scabbard with throat piece and oval frog stud, leather frog with retaining strap.
The bayonet is stamped on the pommel with the serial number ’38335’. This number is also stamped on the scabbard body, indicating an original pair.
The FN FAL infantry rifle and its bayonet were adopted by Argentina in the late 1950s, initially purchased from FN in Belgium but later made domestically by Argentine manufacturers. Several types of bayonet and webbing attachments were used by the Argentinean Army and Marines during the Falklands conflict: the knife model with distinctive flash-hider ‘prongs’ on its muzzle ring was the ‘Type A’ bayonet, which fitted to the early FALs. Its blade was based upon the US M4. This was used side by side with the tubular ‘Type C’ model, which was introduced when a 22mm muzzle device was added to the FAL in 1962. The scabbards are not interchangeable between Types, the blades being of different shapes.
Belt frogs for these bayonets are made of either leather or nylon fabric: the ‘Correaje Argentino de Cuero’ (Argentine Leather Belting) load-bearing system made of green-dyed leather was introduced around 1970, but incorporated some preexisting elements including leather frogs and pistol holsters, which were then painted green to match. The nylon ‘Correaje Tempex’ (Tempex Belting) was introduced in the early 1980s to replace it which included a new frog. Both forms of load-bearing system were still in use by 1982 so both were carried in the Falklands. Either frog will fit either Type of bayonet.
The leather frogs follow a Mauser design, but as you can see on this example the seam on the left side is tucked under before being stitched, giving it an asymmetrical shape. This creates room for the ‘prongs’ of the bayonet’s flash hider to slide over the leather on the right side, a modification made on later examples specifically for the FAL bayonet.
After Argentine forces surrendered to the British on June 14 1982 their small arms were piled up by the thousand in the Islands’ capital Port Stanley, where most Argentine forces had been deployed or driven back to. A large quantity of arms had also been captured earlier at Goose Green, which was a key ammunition dump for the Argentine forces, and still more were gathered later from unengaged Argentine positions on the island of West Falkland. The FAL rifles became British government property and were either brought to the UK or dumped at sea, while bayonets and the short machete-like officer’s sidearms frequently became personal trophies or souvenirs for British soldiers as they would not be illegal to own in civilian life. This example is most likely one such ‘bring-back’.
The blade is sharp, with visible sharpening marks. The tip has some wear. The hilt and pommel are patinated. The grips have some abrasion and handling wear. The scabbard has heavy patination and light pitting. The frog has lost its green colour on the front side – some remains on the reverse side. Its stitching is all intact, rubbing and denting to the leather overall, some cracking to the inside of the retaining strap and rust to its buckle.
